Shingeki No Kyojin: The Hunger Games
by mistyhollowdrummer
Summary: He'd gone in with one goal in mind, to stay alive until the end. He wasn't supposed to make friends by the end of it. Killing off your friends and family isn't as easy as one would make it out to be. (There will be pairings. Spoilers. Rated M for gore and whatever my mind comes up with. XD)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello~ People of the internet! Let me explain where this all comes from before I get bricks thrown at my head. XD The idea came up in my head after seeing the new movie, and after trying for weeks to make it go away, I couldn't get rid of it. I wrote it down to get it out of my head, talked to some friends about it who then told me to put it up, and... Tada? X'D Don't hate meh man! This is also a present. I recently got 8,000+ page views on DA recently and I wanted to say thank you! This is a very quick present, as you can tell. I don't have much for a summary or title, but I put lots of work into this. ^^ So thank you 8,000 page views and thanks for reading! Please leave a review and tell me if you want me to continue! I do have ideas for more chapters, so let me know. ^^**

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Sixty seconds. The clock ticked down.

Eren's gold eyes shifted to three panels away. His sister was astride it, hands clenched together into fists, a fighting stance ready, but her eyes were on him. Those big, black eyes shifted to the cornucopia, and then back to him before shaking her head.

She was telling him no, don't go after the weapons. Only go for the packs a few feet away. They were the things that could contain elements they needed to survive. That's what they needed.

Fifty seconds.

His eyes shifted to the two people blocking his path from her: Sasha Blouse and Connie Springer, the two from District Five. The girl was weak for food, so there wasn't a doubt in his mind that she'd eventually die of starvation. She wasn't overly strong or overly pretty, so sponsors wouldn't bang down the games door to help her at a given notice. Her score from training had been an eight, so she wasn't weak, but she obviously wasn't a threat.

The other, Connie, was small. His score in training had been a five, and since the beginning, he had been taking this thing for a joke. He was acting like it was just a child's game and eventually his mother would call him home for dinner after he "died." He wasn't strong, and his tactics in fighting were poor. Sasha was more of a threat than him. However, they were already infamous for being friends since birth. People favored them together, hoping they'd make it to the end and one would win ceremoniously.

Forty seconds.

To Eren's left were three of the strongest out of them all, besides Mikasa. The one closest to him, Annie Leonheart, had gotten a ten in training. She was strong, but with her sour disposition, she didn't win people over easily. The man standing next to her was Bertholdt Fubar. He was incredibly tall, and popular with the ladies, though he didn't care for any of them. It was obvious who he was trying to win over, and that was Annie.

They both came from District Two, meaning that they were careers, so the two were both threats to everyone else. They were strong, and Bertholdt was incredibly tall, a good six foot four. Sponsors had been lining up for them since the beginning. They seemed more wanting of the sponsors just so they could survive, however. While others truly thought it a game, they knew otherwise.

Thirty seconds. His heart began to pound harder within his chest.

To Bertholdt's left was Reiner Brown. He came from District one, another career, and while he was the second tallest out of the twenty four tributes, he was unbelievably strong. He had muscles to boot and one would think he was on a steroid if he hadn't been tested beforehand. Girls loved him too, and he was more willing to accept the affection from them than others. He'd kiss to the crowds or wink into cameras, but that was it.

The other girl from District One was Christa Renz, the last of the careers. She was off near the back of the cornucopia, just barely peeking into Eren's view. Since day one, everyone agreed that she was beautiful. People loved her for her cuteness and overly goddess-like appearance. While she had that to back her up, like Connie, she was small, and very weak. She was a fast runner, however, and could easily slip out of any sticky situation.

Fifteen seconds.

However, she had a tool to use for her advantage, one she never really bargained for. The girl standing next to her was Ymir. Oddly enough, her last name had never been mentioned. She'd gotten a ten as well. She was from District Three, and besides being talented with a throwing knife, the only other quality that separated her from the others was her obsession with Christa.

She was infatuated with her. She'd stuck close by her side since they met, but at a dinner, she made it obvious how protective of her she became. She simply stated, "I don't care what happens to me. You can torture and kill me for all I care, but if you touch Christa, I'll murder you." She wasn't fooling around; whether it was her tactic or not, she was adamant about protecting her.

Ten seconds.

Behind the cornucopia, he assumed was two others that had caught his attention: Marco Bott and Jean Kirstein. Jean and Eren had but heads a few times, Jean simply stating he couldn't wait to kill Eren in the arena and Eren saying not if he shoved Jean's head up his own ass, Mikasa being one person to separate them, and Marco being the other. Marco was good at heart, but not the best of fighters. While he got a nine for his abilities to dodge, he was too kind of a person to take anyone's life. Jean, however, Eren would argue about.

Five seconds.

Eren's eyes scanned some more for the other tribute that had peeked his interest in the beginning. The boy from District Twelve, Armin Arlert, was nowhere to be spotted. He must have been on the other side of the metal beast between him. The boy had gotten an eleven, just like him and Mikasa. He was small, weak, and not attractive to many eyes (though some mistook him for another female tribute on the beginning), but he was smart. Very smart.

Four seconds.

Eren had tried talking to him at one point, but the boy was enraptured in trying to make a fire. When Eren offered to help him, the blond haired boy simply gave him the cold shoulder and ignored him. He wasn't very talkative, but obviously he was worth something if he got an eleven; for what, though, Eren was unaware.

Three seconds. His heart gave an unpleasant lurch.

Eren looked to the nearest pack. Should he go for that, or risk running closer to grab something with better potential?

Two seconds.

It didn't matter. Eren may have been good at hunting, but that was it. He was nothing to the capital, and nothing he would stay. Mikasa, however, was important. She was strong, smart, and overly gifted in many subjects, because of her Asian descent. She would survive and make a better life for herself and people in District Four.  
Even if they were the only two left, Eren would take his own life before she would get the chance to stop him. It had been his plan from the beginning. Protect her life and risk his own.

One second.

He wasn't going to lose anyone else. She was too important to him.

The buzzer sounded.

With every ounce of courage and strength he had, Eren bolted for the nearest pack. He grabbed it, chucked it over his shoulder, and looked for his sister. Mikasa had done the same thing, but she had encountered a small issue. One of the men went after the same one, and now she was fighting him for it, fighting, and losing. He had his hands wrapped around her throat, and no matter how many hits of her elbow she threw into his ribs, he refused to let go.

Eren jumped in without another thought. Mikasa lurched forward, bending over so his head was low for Eren to yank back. When his face was in view, Eren sent the palm of his hand into his nose, breaking it and shoving it back into his skull. Did it kill the man? He wasn't sure. Did it get him off of Mikasa? Hell yeah, it did.

"Go!" Mikasa screeched, voice harsh and raspy from the struggle. She pushed at her brothers shoulders, making him move forward and away from the battlefield behind them. Eren made sure to hold her hand, noticing her stumble. She hadn't gotten the chance to catch her breath, but it wasn't a good time to try. They needed to be miles away from this area within minutes. If not, they'd end up dead.

He slung the pack she managed to grab over his own shoulders so she wouldn't need to carry it as they ran. They burst past the narrow brush, narrowly avoiding a tree before they continued to run. The rough terrain of trees and bushes, a thick, dense forest, made it harder to run, leaving them panting for air, but they didn't stop. They couldn't stop. How could they when someone easily could have been behind them?

Eren looked back at his sister to make sure she was alright. Besides being out of breath, at some point, though Eren didn't know when, she had managed to pick up a bow and a pack of arrows. It must have been in the struggle with that man. He must have had it and she took it from him. He considered this a good thing. They had a weapon now, a good one too. They could use it for long range kills if it came down to it.

Eren looked back ahead to make sure he was running around trees and not _through_ them. As he did, a figure appeared out from a bush, staggering as he entered the area and obviously out of breath. Eren didn't have time to stop himself, and even if he did, Mikasa would become a human whip in his hands and send him forward again. He collided into the person, a hard knock of their skulls sounding out and the two falling to the forest floor. Being out of breath was one thing, but getting it knocked out of you when you didn't have any to begin with was another thing entirely.

Mikasa had fallen to the ground when they had, leaving the three gasping and panting for air that their bodies screamed out for. After what felt like forever, after the realization finally hit him like a ton of bricks or the person he had run into, Eren's head shot up, eyeing who it was that they had run into. His gold eyes fell directly onto the boy he had previous been looking for, Armin Arlert. Besides the bloody nose and a couple of scratches on his cheeks from possibly running through the forest, the boy was completely unscathed. It was like coincidence that the boy looked up at him at the same time, blue eyes widening in surprise and utter fear. An odd sound passed between his lips, a sound between a whimper and a squeak.

Their first victim or their first and last murderer?

Mikasa looked up upon hearing the sound, and when seeing Armin, she clenched her teeth and pulled at the bow wrapped around her body. She pulled an arrow out of its sheath before Eren had the time to grab her hand, and as she clicked it in place and pulled it back, Eren held his arms out in front of the offending weapon to stop her.

"No, don't!" He cried. The arrow was sent flying, but landed a mere inch from the younger boy's hand. He screeched with horror and backed away, but Eren grabbed him by the base of his leg and held him still while giving Mikasa back the arrow she shot. Armin cried again, yanking on his leg for freedom, but Eren's grip was vice. Soon, Eren reached up and pulled at his arms, helping him to his feet. Armin was too afraid to move, but when Eren grabbed at his and Mikasa's hands and started moving forward, he was forced into running behind him.

"Just keep running!" He commanded, still out of breath. The two did as told, following close behind him with hands still locked together. Armin was beginning to slow down, being one not good at physical anything, and also because of the bloody nose he received when he ran into Eren. Eren noticed it all by the way the boy began to slack and stumble behind them and he knew he couldn't keep running forever. They needed a place to hide, and soon.

Eren's eyes scanned the area around them. Nothing but trees and bushes as far as his eyes could see. None would be adequate cover, but they had no choice. If they kept running and ran into danger, they'd be completely fatigued and wouldn't be able to fight anyone. They had to stop, if only for a few minutes.

Eren slowed to a stop near a pine tree with branches low to the ground. Mikasa and Armin were a panting mess, both of them falling over their knees to catch their breath, but Eren corrected that by lifting them up and pushing them over to the tree. He cupped his hands together, telling them to climb, and they did. Mikasa went first, having only enough energy left to get up into the first few branches. Armin went next with the help of Mikasa pulling on his arms and Eren pushing on his waist and legs to get him up. When Eren climbed in, the two helped him, pulling him most of the way and getting him out of sight. He then shuffled up higher, the two following behind.

When they were at least ten to fifteen feet off of the ground, they finally stopped. Mikasa and Eren lay against a couple of branches close together, providing enough support for their bodies. Armin rested against the trunk of the tree, his head hanging backwards as he tried catching his breath. The three settled into the quiet silence of the forest, the only sound being an occasional bird chirping or their heavy breathing. Eventually, the three were able to relax, but not by much with a new found tributes sitting a few inches from them.

Armin was already fidgeting, scooting further into the trunk with nowhere to run or hide. He had no weapons; the only thing he had was a pack on his back. Obviously he had the same idea as the two siblings had been given by their mentor. That or it was very obvious. The only weapon around was in Mikasa's grasp, and Armin already knew that Eren was strong enough to kill him with bare hands by the amount of running and dragging he did. He was at a loss, so he'd either die or fight his way out of this, which he knew was for naught.

Eren's eyes flickered over to him, and Armin frantically looked around at the branches, hoping one would be sturdy enough to climb on. His chances were slim, and as Eren sat up and a hand lifted in his direction, he saw those slim chances fade away all too quickly. He raised his arms up, covering his head in defense and waiting for the finale blow to end his life, but it never came.

"I just want to make sure nothing is broken." He heard Eren speak. He dared to peek out from his arms, to see Eren's hand still in the air and Mikasa still lying on her comfortable branches. He lowered his arms, allowing Eren to reach forward and brush his fingers against the bridge of his nose. Besides the bruise and the sting upon the contact, nothing felt broken or out of place. It seemed that all that happened was a good knock to his nose. The blood flow had stopped by now, just leaving the remains of it on his upper and lowers lips, plus his chin, which Eren gently wiped away.

"No... Everything seems fine." Eren mumbled, pressing down on his nose once again and receiving a hiss in response. "Sorry about that."

"I-It's okay..." Armin stuttered out, trying to back away from the older boy's touch. Eren's hand retreated, knowing that he was pushing on the rickety bridge between the two. He shouldn't have pushed his luck too much, especially not now.

"Eren has a hard skull." Mikasa suddenly announced, her voice still quiet to avoid anyone finding them.

"Mikasa, shut up," Eren looked over his shoulder and sneered. The sight of the two bickering siblings brought a small smile on Armin's lips. Small, but still there. Eren sighed and turned his attention back to Armin. "Ignore her," He grumbled out.  
Mikasa sat up from her branch and sighed. Breathing returned to normal, she shucked the pack off of her back and opened it up.

"What are you doing?" Eren asked.

"We should really check and see what we have." She mentioned while pulling out a flask. She opened it up to see what was inside, only to find nothing. Following close behind was a small medical kit. Inside of it were band aids, ace wraps, and antibiotic creams. This was an instant relief to them, knowing they'd be able to keep themselves alive against any exposure the elements had to offer.

Armin and Eren exchanged looks with each other before doing the same thing. Eren pulled out a heavy sleeping bag; small, but heavy. It would keep them warm at night when it got too cold and lighting a fire wasn't an option. Next was a roll of wire, for what, he didn't know. They'd probably figure out something for it eventually. He also had a flask, but once again, there was no water. However, there was a spile inside of the bag, which they could use to get water out of trees.

This could be something that might just keep them alive.

Eren sighed before looking over to Armin. He had a small roll of bread in his pack, wrapped in some plastic to keep it fresh. He had a good few feet of rope which would come in handy. There was that, a flask that was also empty, and a small bottle of tablets.

"What are those?" Eren leaned over a little and asked. Armin jumped in place as if he had been deep in thought and Eren broke it. He looked back at the small vile before shaking his head.

"Iodine pills," He answered.

"What do those do?" Eren continued.

"They purify water of bacteria... And things like that." He answered before unwrapping the bread. The smell of it hit the three quickly, and Eren already felt his stomach grumble in approval.

"You shouldn't eat that now." Mikasa mentioned. "Save it for emergencies. If you're starving in a few days, you'll be grateful you did it." He explained.

"Right..." Armin mumbled before wrapping up the bread. "And if I could find some herbs and spices, I could make it a pretty good meal." He added. When looking up, he noticed the odd look on both of the siblings faces. Mikasa looked like she was smiling more than confused, but Eren looked like he was a deer caught in headlights. "What...?"

"You really earned that eleven; didn't you?" Mikasa asked. Armin flushed a deep shade of red as he pushed the bread, pills, and rope back into his backpack.

"N-No, not really, they were too kind with that number, that's all." He excused, avoiding their stares. Eren frowned and rested a scraped hand on the boy's boney shoulder.

"Armin, they don't do that. Their numbers are based on true talent and skills. You earned that eleven." He said with a stern, but tepid tone. Armin's ears flushed as well as he pulled out from his grip. He hoisted his backpack back onto his back and readjusted himself on the tree branch.

"Right, well um... I-I should go." He stuttered and tried climbing out of the branch.

"Already...? But..." Eren's frown was instantly disconcerting to both Mikasa and Armin, but Mikasa was quick to pick up where he left off.

"We can feed you if that's what it takes." She stated flatly. Armin stopped with his stomach against the branch and his feet dangling in midair. He seemed rather surprised by the fact, but neither he nor Eren knew where she was going with this. "Eren can hunt, so it won't be a problem, and we could really use someone as smart as you." She continued.

"We have medicine too. If we work together, I think we can last out here pretty long without needing to take anyone's lives." Armin looked away for a moment, the words sinking into his mind. The deal was a good one, a very good one. Smarts he had, but physically he was nowhere. He knew that, _everyone_ knew that.

If Eren could hunt, he wouldn't have to worry about starving to death. Mikasa had medicine, so exposure wasn't something he needed to worry about terribly. He had purification tablets, so he had good, clean water whenever he found it. Together they'd make a pretty good team, but that was the issue.

Armin had come into this game with one thing in mind; he'd either die from someone's hands, or he'd walk out of there while everyone else died on their own. He'd have no blood on his hands. Being in an alliance, if he were to mess up, Mikasa's or Eren's deaths would be on his hands. He couldn't stand it if that happened.

"It's that or starve." Eren mumbled while shrugging his shoulders. Armin huffed before pulling himself back up into the tree branch and leaning against the trunk of the tree.

"So is that a yes?" Mikasa asked. Armin looked down into his lap and nodded his head.

"Yeah, just don't kill me in my sleep." He muttered.

"I could say the same to you." Eren said and playfully shoved at his shoulders. Armin tried to hold back his laughter, but ended up managing a smile and a quiet chuckle. When the silence settled, the cannons began to go off. The silence in the air, at first pleasant, then became tense, bone crushing even.

One cannon, two cannons, three, and so on. The three stayed quiet, counting each cannon until the sound disappeared. More silence followed until Mikasa finally broke it.

"Eight cannons..." She mumbled. Armin mumbled something under his breath, too quiet for the others to hear before letting out a heavy sigh.

"That leaves us sixteen other tributes." Eren groaned and dropped his head into his hands.

"Normally there are a lot more dead..." Armin whimpered dejectedly. "This isn't going to be easy."

"We'll just hide," Eren suggested.

"What about hunting?" Armin asked.

"We'll do it early in the morning, say three or four. By then, the other tributes will be trying to get rest, and nocturnal animals will be out." Eren said. Now it was Armin's turn to smile.

"Someone else earned their eleven, didn't they?" He asked sarcastically. Eren chuckled to himself at the comment.

"If only he used that brain in school." Mikasa commented quickly.

"Shut up, Mikasa!" Eren snapped. Mikasa smiled, but remained quiet like Eren told her to.

"So... What are we going to do for food and water?" Armin asked, breaking the tension of annoyance between the siblings.

"I've got a spile, so we can get water from some trees. For now we can wait on food. We don't want to attract any unwanted attention." Eren said. Armin nodded his head in understanding. "Do you know which trees we can use this for?" Eren asked while pointing to said item.

"Birch trees preferably." Armin answered.

"This is already working out well." Mikasa mumbled. "We'll do that later tonight."

"What about a fire? Shouldn't we make one to keep warm?" Armin asked. The two teens shook their heads.

"Others will follow the smoke. It's too bright and being here would be like making a signal for moths to follow." Eren explained.

"So I guess everything is going to be done early in the morning, right?" Armin guessed. The two nodded their heads, and with a sigh escaping him, the area fell quiet again, but not for long. After a few minutes of quiet, of Eren fiddling with the string of his jacket, Mikasa tightening the sting on her bow, and Armin trying to get a better seat in the tree, the sound of a frantic voice could be heard.

Immediately on alert, the three adjusted themselves in the thick pine tree for better hiding. The voice grew louder, revealing the obvious panic in the feminine tone, and the sound of heavy footsteps soon followed. Eren took the bow and some arrows that Mikasa handed him and clipped them together, looking for some opening in the tree to shoot from. When he found a clearing, two girls came into view, the ones he had been previously speculating before.

"Ymir, please stop!" It was Christa, and by the sound of her voice, she was out of breath and desperate. The person pulling her along, Ymir, finally stopped as instructed. Eren did a double take with her, wondering if his eyes had deceived him, but they hadn't. What he had seen was right.

Ymir was marred with flesh wounds from head to toe. She had a particularly large and deep one going across her forehead, another down her waist, and one more deep from her elbow to her wrist. She was bleeding out, staggering, and obviously dizzy, but her hands were tightly clasped around two things: her throwing knife, and Christa's hand.

"We need to stop! You're bleeding out and we need to cover those before they get infected!" Christa cried, pulling on her uninjured arm in a means to get the girl to listen. Ymir was looking about frantically, eyes wide and alert and completely oblivious to the blood drenching her face. "Please, Ymir, just stop for a minute!"

"And get jumped? Fuck no." She hissed. Even her voice sounded rough. She must have gone through hell, by whatever means, to keep Christa safe. "We need to hide."

"We need medicine!" Christa argued.

Eren lowered his bow and arrow. He couldn't do it.

He couldn't take away the life of someone so unsuspecting. He couldn't hurt the two girls. One was already on the seat of death, the other weak and only hoping for a miracle. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair.

"Eren," Mikasa whispered.

"I can't; it's not fair." He answered in another whisper.

"Of course it isn't. This is a cruel world, Eren." His sister came back with. "The strong overpower the weak-"

"And why do we have to follow that rule?" Eren asked, his voice showing his irritation.

"Um..." Armin mumbled. The two focused on him, their argument falling short. "I-If you don't mind, I have an idea." He spoke up, but his voice was so quiet that the two had to strain their ears to hear him.

"What is it?" Eren asked.

"We have medicine; maybe we can find a middle ground with them?" Armin suggested.

"Hell no," Mikasa hissed.

"You did it with me though. I saw how Ymir fights; her aim is deadly. If we get her on our side, maybe she can protect us?" Armin continued to explain.

The idea made a lot of sense. Ymir had a precise aim, her kill rate at ninety-six percent, making her a lethal weapon. If she were protecting them, they wouldn't have to take in too many worries, but what would happen if she turned on them?

"It's too risky." Mikasa said.

"Eren said so himself that it wasn't fair. Let's make it fair. Let's give the capital something to worry about." Armin suggested. Mikasa looked back out to the two girls, cursing under her breath. Ymir really was in a bad spot, and if they didn't do anything, she'd die. While that was the object of these games, Mikasa didn't want that on her conscience.

Plus, if they were to help her, Ymir would then owe them. They could take that favor whenever they pleased. Mikasa sighed to herself before looking over to her brother. He seemed to be deep in thought as well.

"What do you think, Eren?" She asked him. A few moments of silence passed between the three before Eren finally answered.

"Let's help them." He said. Mikasa looked back at Armin, as if to confirm the plan. When he nodded his head, the teen gave an irritated sigh. "Hey...!" Eren called out, momentarily spooking Mikasa and Armin.

Ymir was immediately on guard, raising her knife up and pushing Christa behind her and into a tree to protect her. Christa squeaked on impact, but Ymir considered the small sting of pain better than what she was going through.

"Where the fuck are you?" Ymir questioned, her voice an animalistic growl. The three teens looked at each other one more time before continuing on with their plan.

"Relax, we don't want to fight!" Eren yelled. Ymir kept shifting her gaze, looking around for the voice that seemed to be coming out of thin air. "We just want to help!"

"Bullshit!" Ymir came back with.

"We have medicine! We can help you, but only if you let us!" Mikasa spoke up. At some point, Mikasa had taken the bow and arrows back from Eren, aiming for Ymir in case she tried to pull any funny tricks. She was prepared, but the question was, who was faster, Ymir and her knife, or Mikasa and her arrows?

At the mention of medicine, Christa's blue eyes flickered to life, hope evident on her face as he pushed at Ymir's back.

"They have medicine, Ymir! They can help!" She cried, trying to pry herself free from the taller girl's tough grasp.

"Yeah, they'll help us to an early grave." Ymir spit back.

"We're only trying to help!" Armin added.

"Ymir, stop this! If they've got medicine then they can save your life!" Christa finally broke free from Ymir and pulled on her uninjured arm, trying to get the girl to follow her, but Ymir wouldn't budge.

"I'm not going to be in debt to someone; not here for sure." Ymir hissed.

"You don't have a choice, Ymir!" Christa cried. She pulled at Ymir's shoulders, yanking her gaze down to her own and giving her the most pleading, mournfully scarring look she could muster up. "Please, Ymir, _please..."_ She whimpered, her big eyes going wider.

Ymir scowled, her frown disdainful, but Christa's adorable pout had her heart melting. She whined deep within her throat, showing her true hate for the idea, but Christa's gaze didn't lighten up. Her hands were sturdy and strong on her shoulders and the warm touch wasn't helping either. After a few seconds of that adorable pout, Ymir finally gave in.

"Fine..." She hissed bitterly. "But only for _you..."_ She added. Christa's smile was too bright for words and her eyes lit up with happiness.

"Thank you," She said and hugged her friend, one Ymir returned reluctantly. Once done, she turned back to no particular direction and called out to the teens. "We'll take your help!" She called out.

"Put your weapon down and I'll come out!" Eren yelled.

"Eren-" Mikasa began.

"It's alright. That's the only weapon she has. I'll be fine." Eren assured.

"Are you sure?" Armin asked quietly. Eren nodded his head as his answer, his eyes following the bickering girls as Christa convinced Ymir to drop her knife. Ymir did, tossing it into the ground to stand up straight in the dirt. When seeing this, Eren grabbed the medical kit Mikasa had and began his decent from the tree.

The two girls were quick to pinpoint Eren once they heard him climbing down, and Ymir's shoulders tensed. She kept looking down at the knife imbedded into the Earth, trying to think of some way to pick it up, but Christa had a firm grip on her hands to stop her from doing so. Eren continued to climb down until the last branch, but by this point, Christa and Ymir could see him in the thin brush. Unarmed and hanging off the branch, Christa released Ymir's hands and walked up to Eren.

"Thank you for the help, four." She said, her smile never leaving her lips. "We owe you one."

"It's Eren, and not a problem." Eren corrected, trying his best to smile as Ymir walked up to him too. "My sister is up there too, plus Armin from District Twelve." He said. Ymir was paying too much attention to the med kit in his hands to care what he was talking about.

"Whatever, can I have that now?" Ymir asked and tried taking it from Eren's hands. Eren yanked it back, quickly getting a death glare from Ymir.

"You're sitting ducks out there. Come up here, that way you can hide." Eren suggested. Ymir rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue, as if she couldn't believe she was really agreeing to any of this. Eren held out a hand to her, hoping to help the injured teen up into the tree, but the girl slapped his hand away and started climbing on her own. With his hand hanging in the air, Eren directed it to Christa, who gratefully took it and let him help her up.

"Don't take her too seriously. She's a nice person, I promise." Christa assured as Eren held her up to his chest.

"Is she always like that?" Eren asked as he began climbing as well.

"No, I think she's just scared. She's never this tense and I think she's just trying to hide it."

"I'm not out of fucking ear shot." Ymir growled down at the two. Christa giggled and Eren tried to hide the playful smirk on his lips, but to no prevail. The three of them climbed up the pine tree, joining Armin and Mikasa, who still had her weapons in hand. Ymir instantly backed away to the farthest possible branch, but there wasn't much she could do before Christa was pulling her right back into place. "Let's get one thing straight: I'm not going to be all goody, goody friends with you because you're helping me." Ymir announced.

"And we don't expect you to be. We just want to help, that's all." Armin decided not to mention the part about how she would owe them something for this. He'd call her out on that later when the time was necessary. Instead, he watched as Eren opened up the med kit and pulled out various items, such as ace wrap and antibiotic cream. Silence fell on the small group of teens before Christa finally chose to break it.  
She held out her hand firmly, locking it in place as she eyed Armin who was sitting on the branch in front of her. When he looked up at that waiting hand, Christa reached out and grabbed at his own, only to shake it vigorously.

"I'm Christa; it's really nice to meet you!" She greeted in her usual chirpy mood. Armin laughed softly and returned the handshake with as much strength as he could muster up, but he couldn't possibly match her enthusiasm.

"I'm Armin. It's nice to meet you too." He said. Christa then directed her attention over to Mikasa, whose attention was spent watching Ymir like a hawk while Eren patched her up.

"It's nice to meet you too. You must be Eren's sister, right?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm Mikasa." She greeted quietly, her black eyes flickering over to the blond girl before looking back to Ymir.

"That's right. You're the girl who volunteered to be a tribute. You said you wanted to be here for Eren." Christa recalled from all of the footage she had seen of Mikasa and Eren.

"That's right," Mikasa confirmed, the smallest of blushes forming on her cheeks.

"That's so sweet of you!" Christa gleamed with a special sparkle in her eyes.

"Just marry me already..." Ymir mumbled to herself, though it was loud enough to pick up on. Eren finished with the bandages around her arm and moved to her head to put some antibiotic cream on it, but not before cleaning away the profuse amount of blood on her face with his jacket sleeve. "You know, for a sister, you don't look much like Eren." Ymir rudely noted.

"Ymir," Christa growled lowly at her.

"Nah, that's alright. She's adopted, that's why." Eren said with a chuckle. Mikasa remained silent.

"When did you meet her?" Christa asked.

"I was about eight years old. My father was a doctor at the time and he had been called to her place to check up on her mother. I wanted to go to work with him, so one day he let me. When we got there..." Eren trailed off, eyes falling to his adopted sister to see if she was alright reliving these painful memories. When there was no negative response from her, Eren continued. "Peacekeepers killed her parents..."

"That's awful..." Christa said, her voice dropping down to a whisper, like it was a secret. "I'm sorry to hear about that, for the both of you."

"Now I feel like an ass for bringing that up." Ymir scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It's okay..." Eren tied the bandage tightly around her head, making sure the gauze would stay in place.

"If anything good came out of it, it was me getting to meet Eren." Mikasa suddenly murmured. Eren sent a soft smile her way, glad to know that she wasn't mad at him for bringing up her past like it was an everyday topic to discus.

"I think everyone has suffered something from them. It's nothing new." Eren continued. Ymir growled at him when pressure to her side was applied, which he quickly apologized for. "If I don't do that, it's going to keep bleeding."

"Let me do it then. She'll bite your head off if you keep going." Christa suggested. Eren nodded his head and jumped down a branch so Christa could take his place. Ymir practically jumped out of the tree branch when Christa began applying pressure, but true to her word, Ymir stayed quiet and took up clawing at the tree to avoid digging her nails into anything else. Eren stifled a laugh at the sight, finding it funny how Ymir, the girl who had such a standoff personality like Annie, could suddenly show an emotion that lacked hostility. He looked over to his sister and Armin to see if they shared the same ideas, but he was wrong.

While Mikasa normally didn't show a lot of emotion to begin with, kind of like right now, Armin was having a hard time willing away the frown on his lips. His big, blue eyes seemed bigger and even glassy, like he was fighting back tears that threatened to surface. Sitting on a lower branch helped hide the sadness on his face, but Eren wasn't blind to it.

"Armin, what's wrong?" Eren asked as he climbed down to sit on the branch Armin was on. Armin, who was once again startled out of his thoughts by Eren and looked up at him as if he hadn't expected the boy to talk to him. He quickly looked away from Eren and cleared his throat, but Eren already saw past his scheme.

"N-Nothing, I uh..." Armin stopped when hearing his own voice. The pain was evident and he knew by now that he wasn't fooling anyone. "... M-My family was killed by Peacekeepers too." He admitted weakly. Eren saw the stray tear slip past his eye and slide down his pale cheek, but Armin only turned his face away to try and hide it.

When that didn't work, Eren gently cupped one of his cheeks into his hand, the wet tear clearing a path on his slightly dirty hand. He used little force to get Armin to look at him, the blonde's attention falling flat when Eren reached up with his other hand and wiped away the tear. The blush was obvious within seconds, but Eren didn't let on that he knew about it. When the tear was gone, he pulled his hand away and set it back by his side on the tree. Armin looked away again, his eyes still wide and the blush spreading thicker on his cheeks, but it was all out if embarrassment.

"I don't know if it will make you feel better or not, but my mom was killed by them too..." Eren murmured, his face still too close to Armin's own for comfort.

"Really...?" Armin asked. The look in Eren's gold eyes was hard to read, because he did look upset, but there was a haze that settled over it. Armin had seen this looked before. It was an old wound, one that did massive damage to his mental state and never really healed. The pain was still there, but so was the awareness of acceptance.

Armin had seen this look on his grandfather after his parents were killed. He wore it most of the time around Armin, but the boy had never turned a blind eye. He could hear the old man's pain-filled sobs at night and see the swollen eyes at dawn. When he was taken from Armin as well, he had experienced the same thing. Had Eren just accepted everything for what it was worth? When Eren nodded his head, Armin accepted that as his answered.

"What about your dad?" Christa broke the silence and asked.

"Taken away for interrogating. I haven't seen him since." Eren explained, but his eyes were still on Armin. "I just accepted the thought that he's dead."

"When did that happen?" Armin dared to ask. The answer he got made him hate himself for ever asking the question in the first place.

"When I was nine," Eren's eyes finally drifted away from Armin to find his sister.

"So you've been on your own ever since?" Christa asked, mouth hanging open and eyes glassy like she was about to cry as well.

"Yep, just Mikasa and I."

"Jeez, Christa, what the fuck did we walk into, some kind of group therapy?" Ymir suddenly asked out loud. Eren and Armin laughed it off, finding the idea funny, but Mikasa was her usual, stoic self. "Come on; let's get out of here already." Ymir scoffed and said, her legs swinging over the tree branch.

Christa quickly sent them a worried glance, silently telling the three that she needed help, that Ymir was in no condition to go, that _she_ was in no condition to go. That much was obvious.

"Ymir, cut the tough girl act for five minutes and sit your ass down." Eren commanded. Ymir wasn't happy with the tone of his voice or the command from someone she considered short (Ymir being as inches taller than him). It showed by the angry look on her face, and by the fact that she quickly climbed over to Eren, injuries and all, and faced him with that angry face.

"What was that?" She asked with a hiss.

"You're injured, you've got nothing but a knife, we've got food, water, and medicine; do the math yourself." The brunette continued, not fazed by Ymir's overbearing aura of hatred. "Just sit back and relax for a bit. It's not like any of us are going anywhere or doing anything any time soon." Christa stood up and climbed over to them, but remained on her own branch, fearing the one the three were sitting and standing on would give out if any more weight was added to it.

"Please, Ymir. I want to rest for a while." She pleaded, her eyes getting big again and her blond hair falling past her shoulders to frame her face better. Ymir instantly choked up at the sight of her, a small whine similar to a puppy leaving her. No one could resist Christa's cute face no matter how much they tried; even Armin would admit that he'd say yes to her even though it wasn't his offer. After a silent minute of this (silent minus Ymir's pitiful whimpers and Christa's begging), Ymir finally caved.

"Fine, but only for you," She grumbled in defeat. Christa smiled brightly at her and tossed her arms around the girl's shoulders for a hug, to which Ymir only groaned and begged for the young girl to marry her. The two boys chuckled to themselves and Mikasa slowly leaned down over the branches to look at everyone.

"How about you guys get some rest? I'll stay up and be on watch for a bit." Mikasa suggested.

"Are you sure?" Armin asked.

"Yes, I know Eren didn't sleep well last night and Ymir could use the rest." Eren's sister explained.

"Ain't gonna happen," Ymir growled and crossed her arms over her chest. Eren rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue.

"Whatever. Do what you want, I'm getting sleep." Eren said and pulled the sleeping back from his pack.

"Is it okay if I can do that? I-I didn't sleep much last night either." Armin asked, eyes downcast in embarrassment.

"Of course," Mikasa answered, a smile gracing her thin, but pink lips. Armin smiled in return and looked around in the tree they were in to find a good spot to sleep in, and saw that Eren already found his. He climbed up a few feet to where the branches weren't as thick, but closely knitted together. He had already set up his sleeping bag and climbed in, making soft snoring sounds in an attempt to make the others laugh and break the tense atmosphere. For Ymir, it didn't work, but for everyone else, a few small chuckles left them. Eren rolled over onto his stomach and looked through the cracks in the branches, watching as Christa and Ymir settled down on the lower branches, as Mikasa perched herself on one to scout out anything that threatened them, and as Armin continued looking for a good spot to sleep in.

"Hey, Armin, come sleep up here with me." He called down to him. Armin looked up past the pine needles and twigs in his face, sending Eren a rather confused look that implied that the boy was crazy.

"Are you sure?" He asked, his voice showing his skepticism.

"Yeah, it's really warm and there's still room in it." Eren explained. Armin looked over to Eren's sister who was scouting out the area. He wanted to ask if it was alright with her, to make sure she wouldn't mind him sleeping with her brother, but Eren was already speaking up before he could. "Are you coming or what?" The brunette asked. Armin fidgeted in place from embarrassment for a moment before answering.

"S-Sure," He quietly stuttered and began climbing up. Eren watched with mild curiosity as Armin joined him on the closely knit branches and slipped beside him in the sleeping bag. Armin tried not to touch the older boy, but with such a lack of space, it was impossible. The best the two could do in such a tiny space was lay on their sides with their knees and feet brushing together and their chests a mere inch apart.

Armin tried not to look up at Eren, already feeling the boy's golden stare burning the front of his skull, but it was nearly impossible as well. Eren's hot breath was fanning across his scalp, warming him in a way he hadn't felt in a long time. He must have been eleven when he stopped sleeping in the same bed as his parents, and that was because they made him his own room and said he'd want the privacy eventually. Armin got it as he got older, but that didn't mean he didn't crave the old attention of comfort. That comfort was the same as this: the close contact, the warm breath, the body heat.

It was now that Armin noticed something unusual about Eren. It wasn't too serious, but he noticed the heat radiating off of him like a fire. He was really warm, and even through their loose fitting jackets he could feel Eren's warmth seeping into his own bones. He couldn't resist the temptation of reaching up and touching Eren's forehead, to which the boy quickly questioned the action.

"What are you doing?" He asked, but he didn't back away.

"I-I'm sorry, it's just that, I was wondering if you had a fever." Armin questioned.

"No, why?" Eren asked.

"But you're so warm." Armin argued. A small smirk tugged at Eren's lips, a huff of a laugh leaving him as he sighed.

"Yeah," He agreed.

"Eren is his own personal, little space heater." Mikasa explained from where she sat. "He's always had a high body temperature. His dad didn't even know why that was."

"She's just saying that I'm hot." Eren teased, his smirk widening. Armin laughed at the joke, but he couldn't wipe the surprised look off of his face. "So if you wanna snuggle on me, you can. I have no arguments against it." Eren intentionally rolled onto his back, bringing Armin with him and having the boy lay fully on his body. Armin practically squeaked in response, the sound not going unnoticed by Eren, who only chuckled and wrapped his arms around Armin.

"That goes for everybody here. I am a free snuggle if anyone needs it." Eren said while looking down at the three girls below them. "What about you, Ymir? There's room for one more person. Wanna join us? You look like a snuggler," Eren continued to tease.  
Ymir simply answered with a click of her tongue and a wave of her hand to dismiss the invitation. Christa was staring up at the two, smiling widely and laughing at the sight. Her cute look didn't go unnoticed by Ymir, however.

"You want to join us, Christa?" Eren asked. He got the response he was expecting, which was for Ymir to pull Christa into her arms and then flip the teen off with her middle finger. Eren laughed at the sight of it, hearing Armin chuckle on top of him.

"Go to sleep up there, Eren." Mikasa demanded. Eren looked to Armin before mocking the girl below them and sticking his tongue out in her direction. Armin laughed again, trying to keep his voice down so they didn't get caught by his sister. Little did they know that she heard everything from them, even down to the tiniest of whispers. "I mean it; don't make me come up there." She raised her voice to show how serious she was.

"Uh oh..." Eren mumbled and then started making loud and obnoxious snoring sounds to compensate for his lack of sleep. Armin couldn't resist laughing, but he buried his face into Eren's jacket to hide it. Finally, when Eren stopped with the jokes of his sleep and actually tried to do it, the whole area became silent.

Armin closed his eyes and left his head resting on Eren's chest, the heat seeping into his bones and warming him to the core, even though it was chilly. Sleep overtook Eren quickly enough and it had Armin balancing on the edges of reality and dreams. He could faintly hear Christa whispering to Ymir, but only faintly. Eren's heartbeat was a lullaby all on its own, loud and comforting, pulling him into the depths of darkness and bidding him sleep.

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**A/N: Like I said, please leave a review and tell me what you think. ^^**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: It just occurred to me that I never titled the last chapter. I don't think I really have one. It's kind of like a prologue... A really, really long prologue. XD As for this chapter, I ask that you save all brick throwing until after you're done reading... Please and thank you. *ducks under bed***

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**Chap. 2****  
****Insignificance**

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A motion startled Armin into the awareness of reality, yanking him from a peaceful dream he hoped to be his reality and thrusting him back into the utter cruelty that was life. Cold seeped into his bones, making him shake and shiver and shift around in the sleeping bag for the warm spot that had kept him warm for hours on end, but it was to no prevail. He knew that it was Eren that had been keeping him warm, his body being the space heater Mikasa so casually talked about. He wanted that heat again, but could he so carelessly ask for it from the teen he'd only met that day? He assumed not, but the question still remained as to where the boy had gone.

Armin opened his blue eyes, dazed and confused with the fog of sleep. It was dark, showing that it was late (or early). He shifted in the sleeping bag a little more before lifting his head and looking around. No one was nearby, and as Armin looked down, he could see the four other teens gathered around the edges of the branches, eyeing something with interest. Armin shuffled out of the reminding warmth and slipped down from the branches, stifling a yawn as he tried to keep quiet. The branches had a better idea, however, and creaked under his weight. Some smaller twigs broke, alerting the teens of his presence.

Everyone looked back at him, weapons in hands, but when seeing that it was just Armin, they all relaxed. Eren motioned for Armin to come closer, which he did, sitting by Eren and Christa. He cuddled his arms against his chest, secretly wishing that Eren would hurry up and hug him to keep him warm, but Eren's attention was elsewhere. When it came to mind that everyone seemed more interested in something else other than him, Armin looked out last the branches to see what it was. What he saw was exactly what Eren and Mikasa had been explaining earlier.

Someone was a few meters away, a fire lit to keep them warm. In the middle of the night, that fire was as bright as a lighthouse, drawing their attention away from sleep to be curious about it. Armin squinted to see the person better, only making out the gender by her long hair, but her back was turned to them and hiding her face.

"She's been there for about an hour." Eren whispered to him. Armin looked to him and nodded his head, wondering if he and Mikasa had a plan to handle this, or if they planned to handle it at all.

"What do we do?" Armin asked, just as quiet.

"Nothing, we need to keep hiding." Mikasa's voice was quieter than a whisper, but they got what she said after a few guesses as to what she could have said.

"Do you think she knows we're up here?" Christa asked, her body moving over to Ymir's for warmth and comfort.

"I don't think so. Besides, she seems harmless. I don't even see a pack on her." Eren mumbled. A small breeze of cold wind brushed by, whisking the branches of the pine tree they were in and making the teens shiver. Armin instantly recoiled to the cold, his body seeking out Eren's against his will and cuddling into Eren's shoulder. Eren responded by draping and arm over his shoulder and pulling him closer.

The gust of wind had left everyone shivering, including the girl by the fire. The fire had been directed into another direction, sending the smoke into her face and making her cough out. She stood and started walking around the fire, hoping to get away from the offending smoke, and when she did, the four of them could see her face.

"Mina..." Armin mumbled out through a cold breath.

"Who's that?" Ymir asked.

"S-She's from my district." Armin whispered and hastily pulled away from Eren's grasp to climb down the branches.

"No, Armin, don't!" Eren panicked and followed him. Armin didn't make it two branches down before Eren had grabbed his wrist and stopped him from going anywhere.

"Let me go," Armin demanded while yanking on his wrist.

"We need to think about this first." Eren said, falling down to the lower branches to be with the blond.

"Why...?"

"You can't just bolt out of here without thinking. I know you want to help her, but there may be other people nearby and we don't want to tip them off." Eren explained, his gold eyes falling onto Armin's as he stood next to him. Armin looked away, hating the situation. Eren was right. If he let people know where they were, he'd just be getting everyone else killed. He hadn't been thinking properly, and he could have just risked everyone's lives.

"Besides, we don't know how Mina will react. We need to talk to the others first." Eren finished. Armin frowned, biting the inside of his cheek in frustration. Eren was right, but he didn't want to admit it. "I know, I get it; I want to help her too, but we need to think about Ymir who is injured and Christa who is defenseless."

Another good argument. Armin didn't have anything to come back with, except that he couldn't leave Mina alone. Every second she was out there by that fire meant she'd be attracting another enemy. He had to help her, but he had to think of the others too. His thoughts were selfish, but he couldn't help it.

"Just give it time, alright? We'll get her soon, okay?" Eren assured. Armin slowly nodded his head and fell forward to press his forehead against Eren's shoulder. Eren pressed his hands against Armin's back and brought him closer, hoping to give him some comfort in this hell they were brought into. "I really do get how you feel. I want to help her too."

"Hey," Ymir whispered to them from the branches above. "Look," She continued and pointed out to where Mina was sitting. The two boys did, eyes following her pointing finger to see the girl still by the fire, but she wasn't alone. She wasn't aware of the boy behind her, the boy from District Ten, and in his hand was a small pocket knife. He was crawling up from behind her, and she was completely unaware of the sudden danger she was in.

"Mina!" Armin broke away from Eren and cried out. The girl jumped to the voice, but she had no time to react before the boy came up from behind her and ran the knife across her throat. Eren covered Armin's mouth just in time to cover his scream of horror and agony. The boy balled over and fell apart, crying into his hand and letting Eren hold all of his weight.

To the four teen's horror, Armin's obvious scream had alerted the boy. He was looking around for them, eyes wide in awareness. He kept spinning around, looking for them, knife in hand and ready to take his next victim, but he couldn't spot them. Eren couldn't help but question the look in his eyes. He looked as though he were high or drunk, his eyes bloodshot and his breathing erratic. He must have eaten something that wasn't right or fermented, because it would explain his drunken behavior.

"Shit," He cursed and pulled Armin back to the trunk of the tree in an attempt to hide in the shadows. Armin was clawing at the back of his hands, hoping to remove them so he could breathe properly, but Eren wouldn't let go. If he did, Armin would surely cry out and alert the boy. Even Armin knew this, but he was so upset that he couldn't stop crying.

The boy from District Ten whirled around a few more times before giving up on his endeavor. He looked back to Mina's mutilated corpse before staggering off, a disgruntled smirk on his lips. Eren growled in his direction, wanting to kill the kid, but it looked as if Ymir had beaten him to it. From her place in the tree, she launched out her throwing knife. Her statistics and percentage in her aim did not fail. She got him smack dab in the heart, and once he fell, a cannon sounded out.

"A cannon didn't go off for Mina. She's still alive." Mikasa said from her branch. Eren relaxed his grip, letting Armin free to climb out of the tree. He followed close behind to keep watch, and distantly he heard someone else following from the tree (he assumed it was Mikasa). He followed Armin to the fire pit and watched as the boy collapsed beside Mina, hands going to her neck to cover the sickening, open wound and stop the profuse amount of blood spilling onto the forest floor.

"M-Mina! Mina, I'm so sorry! I was coming to help you, I swear I was!" Armin cried, his eyes swollen and red, and tears slipping down his cheeks. Mina's face was pale, her lips already blue and slightly parted to take in shallow and slow breaths. Her eyes were dull and half lidded, and with each blink they seemed to close more and stayed closed longer.

"Please, Mina, j-just stay awake! We have medicine, s-so just stay awake!" Armin begged. Eren bent down to Armin's side and pushed his blood covered hands away to assess the damage. He wished he could say that it was fixable, but it wasn't. Mina's jugular was severed, and without a proper hospital for god knows how many miles, it was over for her.

Mikasa soon joined them, her steps heavy as she slid to a stop. She was quick to stomp out the fire, hiding their position from anyone else who could have been in the area. Christa was by their sides in no time as well, bending down to look at Mina's injuries. Her head fell low, a sullen look on her face that made Armin tremble. She had already come to the same conclusion as Eren had.

"A... Arm... In..." Mina quietly croaked. Armin sniffled and slowly settled down so he could hear the girl.

"Mina..." He mumbled.

"Could... You please tell... T-Thomas..." She trailed off, eyes getting heavy. She choke on a violent gasp for air, blood seeping past her chapped lips. "Thomas to watch... My f-family...?"

"N-No, no! You'll get to go home and then you can tell him that yourself!" Armin sobbed, his hands shaking in an attempt not to crush her throat. He needed to keep pressure on her wound, but he didn't want to choke her either. Her breathing was already audible, choked, and gurgled by blood. "You need to stay awake, okay?" Mina managed a weak smile at his words, her eyes glistening with tears.

She knew it herself that she wasn't making it out alive.

Mina's normally bright, shining, and caring eyes slowly slipped shut, and with that, the sound of a cannon went off. Armin felt a long, cold chill slip along his body, making him shiver uncontrollably. He pulled his hands away from her un-moving body, blood dripping off of them and falling into his lap.

Mina was gone.

It didn't help that her body twitched. Her brain hadn't fully shut down, making her fingers clench by her sides and her head flinch to the left. It made the sight even more gruesome to look at. Armin, however, no matter how much he wanted to, couldn't look away.

This couldn't have been happening. This wasn't real. This was all just a really bad nightmare. He and Mina were at home, sleeping away in their beds, praying for the real tributes safety. They hadn't been called out. This was all just a nightmare...

Wasn't it?

It wasn't. Mikasa's tepid hand settled on his shoulder, making him jump in place. It was dark without the fire, hiding away most of the details of the night and the gruesome sight in front of him. He couldn't see much of Mina anymore, let alone his own bloody hands.

"We should go..." Mikasa murmured. He knew that she wasn't heartless. This affected her, it had to, but she had to think clearly. She knew that if they stayed there they'd be killed by someone. They had to go; they had to hide, so why weren't his legs working?

Eren could see the mental and physical trauma Armin was experiencing and bent down to help him. He draped one of Armin's flaccid arms over his own shoulder and hoisted him up to his legs that could bear none of his own weight. Mikasa lifted his other arm up and around her shoulder and the two helped him back to the tree, Christa following behind slowly. Ymir had climbed down to the lower branches, ready to help in some way. The two teens handed Armin to her, who then pulled him up onto the branches and waited for Eren and Mikasa to join them.

The three remaining climbed into the tree with her and Armin. Eren and Mikasa pulled Armin right back into their grasp, lifting him further into the tree as Ymir helped Christa into the tree. Christa settled herself down onto the branch Ymir was on and handed her the knife she had thrown at the boy from District Ten.

"Was there any way to save her?" Ymir asked quietly, taking her knife back from the blond girl and wiping the blood away on her pants. Christa dropped her head lower as she shook it. The answer would be obvious to anyone, but the question had bubbled its way up and out.

"No, there wasn't..." Christa looked up to the three others as they settled back into their original spots, Armin staying just a bit away from the others to be alone. "Mylius Zeramuski, District Ten... And Mina Carolina from District Twelve."

"How many people are left?" Ymir asked and began climbing up the tree. Christa followed close behind.

"Fourteen..." Christa answered. They fell silent when joining Mikasa, Eren, and Armin. The three of them were already silent, but the silence surrounding them was forbidding and remorseful. The air was thick with tension and Ymir thought that she'd rather brave being on the lower branches where the danger was then be up here.

"How are you feeling, Ymir?" Mikasa suddenly spoke up and asked. It was obvious that she felt the tension too, leading her to speak out before it killed someone.

"Better... I'm not dizzy anymore. I don't feel like I'm going to roll out of this god damn tree." She said.

"We'll find a better place to stay sometime tomorrow... For now we should just rest..." Eren murmured. The others agreed quietly, each humming or nodding their heads. Ymir eventually sighed and stretched her arms over her head, mindful of the wound still along her left arm.

"Well, I'll take the next watch shift. You can all sleep." She said and started scooting out to the edges of the branches.

"Are you sure?" Mikasa asked.

"Yeah, yeah. You've been up since the god damn crack of dawn. Go sleep." She commanded to Mikasa with a flick of her wrist. Mikasa scoffed at her and rolled her eyes before making her way up to where Armin had left the sleeping bag.

Eren watched her go up, his eyes making sure she was safely in the sleeping bag before he decided to try and sleep too. He was fine without the sleeping bag; in fact, it was a little too warm for him. Mikasa always got cold, so she needed it, but he'd be fine without it. What he was more worried about was Armin.

Armin was still sitting in the same spot as before, hands between his legs and still dripping with blood that he hadn't bothered to get rid of. His head was low, but Eren could easily make out the tears still falling from his red and distant eyes. He looked so dead. He wasn't, but he looked it. He looked like he had been defeated, and he looked like he was ready to throw in the towel and give up.

A look like that was frightening on anyone, but Eren felt guilt pool together in his stomach at the pit of his stomach from it. It was his fault Mina was dead. Had they done something sooner, had they gotten her up into the tree or at least told her about the fire issue, she could still be alive, but no. He might as well have killed her himself. He told Armin not to go out, and maybe if Armin had she'd still be alive.

He'd made the wrong decision.

Eren slowly crawled over to Armin, cautiously at first so he didn't scare the boy off. He looked at Armin for a moment longer before reaching out and touching the back of his hand. In response, Armin pulled his hand away. Eren watched as Armin stood up from his spot and climbed to another branch, trying to get away from him. That bundle of guilt in Eren's stomach only got worse as he watched the boy sit on another branch.

Armin was mad at him, and Eren wouldn't blame him for it. His friend was dead, because Eren had made the wrong decision. This wasn't a game. To people in the capital it was, but to them, it was just life or death. Mina got death, because of him, and now the game was over. There was no turning back. She was dead.

"Eren..." Mikasa's voice was a distant sound plaguing at his mind. He looked up hesitantly to see her motioning to him with a hand, telling him to come up and be next to her. Eren did, slowly making his way up to her until he was sitting on the same branch as her, a few inches from the sleeping bag, but it wasn't enough. Mikasa kept motioning for him to come closer, to the point where he couldn't get any closer, even if he wanted to. "Get in the sleeping bag, idiot." She mumbled.

"Oh..." Eren muttered. Mikasa stifled a laugh before scooting over so Eren could have the room to join her. The sleeping bag had fallen cold when Armin left, so the cold gaps did nothing but make her shiver, but when Eren slipped in next to her, they were gone. She cuddled into his chest, pressing her face into the crook of his neck while her head rested on Eren's arm that was her makeshift pillow. His other arm sat on her waist, his hand rubbing along her hourglass figure while all she did was trap her hands between their bodies and close her big, black eyes for sleep. Sleep was there, ready to take her into that dark abyss, but she was pulled out by a voice.

"I'm sorry..."

The words were whispered, barely audible and barely there, but it was something only Mikasa could hear with their close proximity. Mikasa opened her eyes again when feeling something wet drip onto her cheek, and when looking up, she saw that her adopted brother was crying. Eren's eyes were wide, unblinking, red, and swollen from trying to trap the pain away. The pain obviously won over him.

"Eren..." Mikasa reached up and touched his cheek, her cold fingers breaking the tear paths and creating new ones. "Don't be, you've done nothing wrong."

"I might as well have killed her myself..."

"Don't talk like that." Mikasa reprimanded. "I hate saying this, but we don't know how our actions will turn out. We don't know where they will lead or the outcomes we'll face because of them. This outcome was bad; it was, but it's done. We learn from this and move on." Mikasa murmured, her voice dropping so someone like Armin couldn't hear her.

"I'm not saying Mina's life wasn't worth something. She was worth a lot, but it's too late." All while Mikasa spoke, the tears kept coming. Eren bit at his bottom lip, trying to hide the sobs making his body shake, but he was losing. "We'll keep her in mind and let her encourage us."

"If s-she doesn't hate us..." Eren huffed out. Mikasa sighed quietly to herself while wiping away more tears.

"She doesn't hate us, Eren."

"How do you know?"

"I got to talk to Mina a few times during training. She's kind of like Marco; she's too nice for her own good and can't hold a grudge." Mikasa hoped that this would bring relief for Eren, but it didn't. He pressed his forehead into her own, his sobs breaking through and causing him to choke as he continued to try and hold them down. "She's not going to hate us."

"M-Mikasa..."

"Shh," Mikasa pulled his head against her chest and ran her thin fingers through his brown hair. "It's okay, Eren. Everything will be okay." She promised. Eren wrapped his arms around his sister in a near bone crushing grip, but she didn't care. Even now as his death grip restricted her breathing, she allowed it.

He needed to cry. She'd normally tell him to vent it off by yelling or going into the forest to hunt (and those were the days they typically ate well), but that was not an option. The only thing he could do to bring himself relief was cry. Even if he couldn't sob in a hysterical fit, lest they be caught, he could still cry. This was all she could allow for now.

Distantly, Mikasa could hear the sounds of someone else crying. Judging by the high pitched tone and rasps in their breathing, it was Christa. She was upset too. Mikasa listened more, straining her ears to hear better, but what she was looking for wasn't there. Armin was quiet, too quiet. Eventually, she was sure he'd cry. She wouldn't dwell on him, because Armin wasn't her problem, but Eren was.

"Mikasa..." Eren murmured against her collar bone. Mikasa noticed that Eren had calmed down substantially. His breathing wasn't erratic, though it wasn't calm either. He'd settled down enough to let his eyes droop and the tears had slowed to a stop.

"Hm?" Mikasa hummed, her fingers still running through Eren's hair and calming him down.

"... You sounded like Levi there for a minute." He whispered, sleep obviously taking over his tired senses.

"Don't remind me."

* * *

How long had it been now? What time was it? What day of the week was it? What was the date?

Armin's eyes shifted, blue, dazed, and tired irises gazing at the tree branch below his legs. It was covered in blood, just like his pants. Where did the blood come from? Was it his?

No, it wasn't his.

It was Mina's. She was murdered, not just by the boy from District Ten, but by the capital as well. They killed her.

It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair. She never saw it coming; none of them saw it coming. Why did it have to be her? Armin could understand someone like him dying; he was alone in this world. No friends, family, no one who cared for him.

Mina, however, wasn't alone. She had family and was the oldest out of her brothers and sisters. She worked hard to keep them fed, so why did it have to be her? Why couldn't it have been him? Why couldn't it have-

"Armin...?" Armin jumped in place, startled by the voice breaking him out of his thoughts. His eyes refocused, and to his surprise, Eren was standing right in front of him. His feet were on a lower branch, making him a foot lower than Armin. How had Armin not seen him step into his vision? "Hey, are you awake?" He asked.

Armin lifted his head more to get a better view of Eren. The boy was still wearing his thin, black jacket, around his shoulders, his hood pulled up to cover his head. Apparently it had started raining lightly. When? Armin wasn't sure. He didn't even know it was early morning until he realized that he could see details of Eren he hadn't seen at night, like the little wisps of hair in his face or his eyes and eyelashes darkened by his hood.

"Have you been awake this entire time?" Had he? He wasn't sure at all. He never shut his eyes, but time had gone by just as fast as it would if someone were asleep. "Honestly," Eren sighed. "That's not good for you."

"Sorry..." Armin mumbled. Eren heard the rasp in his voice. It was scratchy and sounded dry, as if he was overly dehydrated. Eren assumed that after yesterday he was. Eren remained quiet as he lifted up a flask, and Armin distantly heard the sound of something sloshing around inside it.

"Here, drink this." Eren said while holding up the flask. Armin looked to the container for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face. "I used one of those tablets on it, so it should be good." Armin still didn't make a move to take the container from him. Eren pushed it a little closer, hoping for a response, but receiving nothing. "It's just water," Eren added.

Armin's lips parted barely, allowing the lip of the flask to touch them. Eren smiled and tipped the flask over, allowing the water to slip past Armin's lips so he could drink. Relief seemed to wash over Armin's energy-drained face, his hands still caked in dried blood lifting up to hold onto the flask himself so he could chug down the cold water. It was soothing to his dry throat, quenching it from the scraps to it that he created from crying and screaming. It was like a little ray of hope in this hell he was forced into.

"Thirsty?" Eren said with a light chuckle. Armin parted with the container for a moment to nod his head and sigh, his head falling back against the tree to relax. Eren chuckled again before taking the flask from Armin's hands, closing it, and setting it down against a branch. "How are you feeling?"

"Better now..." Armin mumbled, head still resting against the tree.

"That's good," Eren said with a weak smile. "Did uh... Did you sleep at all last night?" Eren asked curiously, but he was still worried about the situation between them and what happened last night. Eren was sure that if it were him, he'd truly hate himself.

While he didn't know Armin well, he considered him like a friend, and Eren was one who didn't like fighting with friends. He didn't have many to begin with besides Mikasa... In fact, that was all he had for friends. Mikasa, his adopted sister, was his only friend.

"I don't... Think so." Armin mumbled some more. Eren looked up, showing his confusion to the answer, but if Armin were honest with himself, he wasn't sure about it. Time went by too fast. He knew he had his eyes open, but the awareness wasn't there for him. Maybe he had fallen asleep with his eyes open.

"What do you mean by that?" The brunette asked, stepping closer to the boy and seeing what he'd do with the closeness of it. Armin didn't seem too uncomfortable, but he also didn't seem all together. He was either too drowsy to care about anything at the moment or numbed to the pain he suffered last night.

Armin lowered his head, the rain gathering in his hair and dripping off of the blond ends. His eyes still had a dead look to them, something Eren feared. Armin shouldn't have looked like this. A look like this on someone who had such bright eyes was scary to him. He didn't like it.

"Armin...?" Eren lifted a hand and set it on Armin's knee, hoping to get a response. He got one, but it was nothing like what he expected. Armin suddenly snapped to life, long enough to smack Eren's hand away and pull his legs up to his chest. Eren instantly backed away, eyes wide in shock and horror. Armin had just smacked at him and treated him like a threat. Armin, who looked just as spooked by what just happened as Eren, hit him.

"W-What was that for?" Eren yipped, but then he stopped. Tears slipped out of Armin's eyes faster than the rain falling down on them. They slipped down his cheeks and disappeared into the rain, and if the rain were any harder, the tears would probably disappear off of his face too.

"S... S-Sorry... I'm sorry," Armin uncurled from his ball and reached out to take Eren's hand into his own, but the dried blood on his hands caught his attention.

It wasn't his blood. It was Mina's blood. Mina's blood was on his hands. He tried to make it stop last night, but it didn't. She bled to death right in front of him, because the boy from District Ten killed her. The evidence was all over his hands and his clothes.

The sight was horrifying, permanently ingrained into his mind. He could never escape the hell that he saw.

Why was it her? Why did he have to see it? Why couldn't he save her? Why couldn't he do something, anything?

"I'm sorry... So, so sorry..." Armin whimpered.

"What are you apologizing for?" Eren asked. As he did, Armin started scraping away at the dried blood, trying to get rid of it. All that did was cake it under his fingernails and create deep, red marks on his skin. Eren grabbed at his hands, trying to stop the frantic panicking Armin was doing, but it didn't seem to help.

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!" He cried, his nails digging into his flesh and drawing his own blood. Eren kept yanking his hands away, but it wasn't enough. Armin was a mess of tears and blood and he showed no signs of resting any time soon.

"Armin stop!" Eren grabbed ahold of Armin's shoulders and shook, knocking the air out of him and startling him into stopping. Armin's blue eyes found his quickly, questioning him, but not for long before he fell apart. He fell out of his branch and into Eren's waiting arms and welcoming embrace. His head fell into the crook of Eren's neck, the wet jacket cooling the heated skin on his face. He sobbed hysterically against his neck, hands tangling into fists in his jacket, and Eren letting him do it.

Eren wrapped his arms around him in a firm, but comforting embrace. One hand sat at the small of his back while the other pressed against his head and held him close. Eren whispered quiet murmurs into Armin's ear, hoping to calm him down.

"Shh, that's enough. You're okay, Armin, you're okay." Eren instinctively began rocking back and forth, hoping to bring him more comfort, but all Armin did was cry harder. Armin began choking on his sobs, and Eren corrected him by pulling back and wiping away the tears leaking from his eyes. "Stop crying," He murmured.

"I-I can't! I... I don't..." He wasn't sure where he was going with this himself, but he couldn't get to the words he wanted. His mind was muddled with dust and fog that he couldn't get rid of. Eren wiped away more tears, prompting Armin to open his swollen eyes and look at him.

"Yes you can. Mina wouldn't want to see you give up so easily." Eren said sternly.

"She hates me, Eren! She hates me!" Armin sobbed.

"What...? She doesn't hate you! What would make you think she hates you?"

"I couldn't save her. I couldn't do anything to help her." Armin's knees grew weak with fatigue and Eren was practically holding him, but neither complained.

"Armin, listen to me." Armin tried to hide his face, but Eren forced Armin's head up so he could look into his eyes. "I said listen to me. Do you remember what Mina said? She said she wanted you to tell Thomas to take care of her family." Eren recited.

"She knows you can make it out of here alive. She trusts you. She's trusting you right now to make it back alive and help her family. You can do that, Armin." He said, voice still stern and harsh. Armin collapsed under him, his head falling against Eren's shoulder in fatigue. He couldn't hold himself up anymore.

"I can't do it! I'm going to die here and I deserve it after last night!" The words stung Eren more than he had expected them to. He wasn't sure how or why it happened, but he pulled back Armin long enough to slap him across the face. He was immediately remorseful, but the slap did the trick. Armin's frantic panicking stopped, dead silence surrounding them as he looked up to Eren with surprise evident on his face.

"Don't you dare say that!" Eren yelled at him. Armin winced at the sound of his voice, but he couldn't possibly escape when Eren was still holding onto him. "None of us deserve anything of what happened! Not Mina, not you, not me, no one! Don't you ask for death so easily, because you don't deserve that! Do you understand?"

"Mina was smiling when she died! She wasn't alone when she died, and she was happy to see that you cared for her enough to try and save her! You gave her hope and showed her that not everyone in these fucking games are heartless killers! Even you should see that! Mikasa or I could have easily killed you, but we didn't! I wanted to know you, to understand why you gave me the cold shoulder, why you were so quiet during training, but then got an eleven! I never thought about killing you, not even once!"

"So don't you dare say that deserve any of this shit! You're going to get out of here alive, and then you're going to tell Thomas what she said! You'll have so much money that you can turn District Twelve upside down, so do it! Make the capital eat their own shity games, do you understand me?" Eren's voice, by the time he had finished yelling, had gotten hoarse. Eren was sure he hadn't yelled like that for years now.

Being trapped in District Four, he never got the chance to speak his mind. Kids had a little more leverage, but he wasn't a kid anymore. He was seventeen years old, and he hadn't yelled like that since he was nine and his mother was murdered.

"Armin," He said, a little breathless and weak from yelling. Armin's head slowly sunk back to Eren's shoulder, his death grip on Eren's jacket that had made his knuckles white releasing and his hands slowly falling to his waist. Eren released his own grip on Armin, only to find out that he had been what was holding Armin up this whole time. Armin nearly collapsed, and if it wasn't for Eren's quick reflexes, Armin would have fallen out of the tree. The two fell to their knees, Armin's arms wrapping around Eren's shoulders for support and Eren pulling the blond into his lap. "Armin...?" He quietly called out.

"I'm sorry..." Armin whispered. "You're right... I won't say things like that again..." A few quiet moments passed between the two before Eren let out a heavy sigh. He wrapped his arms around Armin's body once more, a hand on his upper thigh to keep him in his lap and another one the back of his head to keep him close.

He could say that this position he found himself in with Armin was a little awkward, but he wouldn't. That's not what Armin needed to hear right now.

"You dummy. You can't just say that and not mean it. I want you to say it because you know it's true and you understand it, not because I yelled at you." Eren managed a quiet chuckle, his heart giving a strange lurch within his chest when he felt arms wrap around his shoulders and Armin's cheek brush against the bare skin on his neck.

"I meant it. I really am sorry, I just..." Armin trailed off, his grip tightening on Eren just the slightest as he tried to bite back fresh tears that threatened to escape.

"I know, Armin." Eren let him off of the hook for it.

"It's different for us, Eren. You have your sister, but you're still alone. I'm alone too, but Mina wasn't. She's got three brothers and two sisters at home, all younger than her. They can't take care of themselves and she was the only one doing it for them. They're alone now, Eren. They're all alone..."

Eren bit at his bottom lip. He knew how that situation went. District Four wasn't filled to the brim with poverty like District Twelve, but it had its places. Eren just happened to be "fortunate" enough to be in those places. He saw it every day. He knew what that loneliness was like and he suffered from it on a daily basis.

True, he had Mikasa, but the two were still kids until eighteen. Until then, they couldn't earn money like the adults do or buy homes so they could have a roof over their heads.

Eren was so painfully aware of it.

"Thomas was the only person who could help them. He's eighteen, so he can get them better food with his job, but..." Armin trailed off again. Eren could hear how Armin was fighting the tears and sobs just by the tone of his voice.

"But what, Armin?" He asked quietly.

"... S-She was one year away, Eren... Her birthday was in a few months. Had they not called her name, she'd be eighteen and she'd never have to worry about this anymore." Tears burned at his eyes and forced their way out like an overflowing dam. "It's not fair, Eren. It's not fair..." Eren pulled Armin closer, their chests pressing together at the proximity.

"I know, Armin. I get it, I really do. It's the same for Mikasa and I." He mumbled. Armin stiffened in his lap, head lifting just slightly to peek at Eren.

"You too…?" He asked in a quiet and weak voice. Eren nodded his head, a faint smile on his lips.

"I just turned seventeen in March." Eren said, his smile widening. "What about you? How old are you?" Eren asked.

"I'm sixteen... I-I turn seventeen in ten days." Armin mumbled. "Oh, I guess it'd be nine today." He corrected. Eren flashed him a toothy grin before ruffling Armin's blond hair into a mess and making him blush.

"Well then let's make it a point to survive that long. I'll sing happy birthday to you on your seventeenth birthday." Eren said. Armin's blue eyes widened and a quiet moment passed before a crooked smile formed on his lips. It was somewhere between a smile and a frown, an obvious sign that he was trying to hold back more tears, but he was more happy than he was sad. He suddenly fell back into Eren's embrace, hands clinging to the hood of his jacket as his muscles strained to hold back his tears. Eren simply smiled more, returning the hug for all it was worth.

"T-Thank you, Eren..." Armin mumbled into his neck. Eren nodded his head before pulling back and seeing a few stray tears slipping down his cheeks; Eren wiped them away with the pads of his thumbs.

"Save those for something important, okay?" He said and Armin nodded his head. "No more crying. Mina wouldn't want you to waste all of your tears on her." Eren continued.

"How would you know?" Armin asked, but in a curious tone more than a mocking tone.

"Mikasa was right when she said that Mina had a big heart. She cares about people and can't hold a grudge to save her life..." Eren said, but then stopped. "No pun intended." He added. Armin giggled into his hand, both from the non-pun and the fact that he was right about Mina. Mina never held a grudge against anyone, not even to him when he stole a crayon of hers in the first grade.

"She wants you to get out of here. She needs your help for her family to survive. You can do that for her." Eren saw the fresh tears spring to Armin's glassy eyes, but he kept trying to will them away. Eren snickered before pressing his forehead into Armin's. "You're a cry baby, you know that?" He asked.

Armin huffed and pushed lightly at his chest, but this wasn't news to Armin. He was fully aware that, even when he was a kid, he cried more than the average boy. His mother used to tell him that he was just sensitive to people and their feelings, but other people thought differently.

"Don't make fun of me." Armin muttered.

"I'm not. I'm glad you're crying, because it's only showing that you're human." Eren said while lifting his head. Armin smiled up at him, the tears still burning his eyes and spilling down his cheeks. "Christa was crying last night, and I'm pretty sure Mikasa teared up a little. I'll admit that I cried too." Eren said.

"You did?" Armin gaped in surprise.

"Don't act so surprised! I'm human!" Eren yipped. Armin sniffled a little, followed by a real laugh.

"Sorry," He apologized. Eren rolled his eyes and decided to ignore the previous question.

"It's fine," He grumbled.

"Why did you cry?" Armin asked. He could see the blush start to dust Eren's normally tan cheeks and smiled more.

"Why wouldn't anyone? I was upset. I was upset about Mina and you and I thought tha-"

"About me...?" Armin interrupted.

"Well, yeah... I thought you hated me, so..." Eren looked away to the ground a few meters below them, his blush intensifying as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I don't hate you." Armin stated. Eren looked back up nervously, eyeing the boy in front of him with obvious confusion and profound curiosity.

"You don't?" He hesitantly asked.

"No, of course not. Where did you get that idea from?" Armin questioned.

"Because… If I hadn't stopped you, then maybe Mina would be alive. I thought that's why you wouldn't talk to me last night." Eren said.

"No, that's not it. It's not that I didn't want to talk to you; I didn't want to talk to _anyone._ I didn't want you or the others seeing me cry and I knew if someone talked to me I'd do just that." Armin explained. Eren felt a load of tension ease up off of his shoulders and be replaced with relief. The smile he felt spread his lips apart only proved that.

Armin wasn't mad at him. He didn't hate him. He only avoided him so Eren wouldn't see him break to the moment. That was it.

"But Mina..." Eren trailed off, golden eyes slowly falling to look at Armin's hands.

"You were right..." Armin started, making Eren look up at him with a deadpan expression. "About everything... I don't know how long Mylius was there with her. I could have put us all in danger by walking out and trying to help her. The chances of something good happening out of that situation were slim, a lot less than the chances of something bad coming from it." He continued.

"So you were right. I wasn't mad at you for that, because you probably saved my life. I was just upset about Mina." The blond looked down into his hands, watching the blood crumble off of his fingers like dust. More relief flooded Eren's whole body like a wave. His let out an audible sigh, his head falling to rest against a branch near their heads.

"I'm glad," He said and sighed again.

"You were worried about it that much?" Armin questioned, smiling at the sight of Eren so lax.

"Shut up," The brunette grumbled again. Armin giggled again before trying to remove the blood from his hands, this time without the use of blunt force trauma. The backs of his nails barely scraped against his own skin, mindful and cautious of his own cuts he created. Eren watched for a moment longer before sitting up straight and taking his hands into his own. "Let's do this the easy way." He said before picking up the flask he discarded earlier.

Armin watched as Eren opened the container and then maneuvered his hands to hover in the air away from them. Eren poured a generous amount of clean water into his hands before capping the flask and setting it to the side once more. He laced their fingers together and rubbed away at Armin's pale skin, making the blood into liquid again and letting it drip off of his fingers. Eren rubbed with just the right amount of pressure, getting in between his fingers and under his blunt finger nails. He was mindful of the cuts and scrapes on his hands, only putting a little pressure here and there, but enough to get rid of all of the blood. When most of it had become a watery substance, Eren poured more water on his hands to get rid of it.

Meanwhile, Armin's eyes were glued to this boy. His watched those gold eyes filled with determination as they gazed at their job. He watched the rain fall gently against his tan skin and then slowly drip down his sharp jaw line and fall off of his chin. He watched Eren's slightly dry lips curl into a smile as he finished washing Armin's hands, a smile that made Armin's legs numb and heat pool into a place he didn't understand.

What the hell was he thinking?

"There, all done." Eren said, rather proud of his cleaning job. Armin pulled his hands back to his lap with a blush, eyeing the job Eren did. He had done well getting rid of the blood. Now all that was left were the cuts and scratches he had created. "We should cover those when Mikasa gets back. We don't want them getting infected."

"W-Where is Mikasa anyway?" Armin asked with a stutter, averting his gaze to something else and pretending it was more interesting.

"She, Christa, and Ymir went hunting and looking for shelter." Eren informed.

"I thought you said we'd do that at night?" Armin asked.

"Yeah, but the circumstances have changed a little. It's not just three people, it's five. We have a better chance at protecting ourselves. Also, since the cannons last night, people will be weary and will try to hide for a bit." Eren explained while standing up. Armin watched as Eren stretched his arms over his head and sighed, his muscles stretching well and his bones popping in all of the right places. "I can't say the same for the careers, but oh well." Eren then shrugged his shoulders and said.

"Okay..." Armin mumbled. Eren looked down to him and smiled before reaching a hand out for Armin to grab. Armin did and was pulled up onto his feet. "I guess I don't feel as embarrassed about my little outburst then." He uttered quietly.

"Like I said, you're human. I'd rather see you act like that than not react to anything at all like last night." Eren said, his eyes staring into Armin's own and his mouth forming a thin and frightening line. "It's okay to feel, so don't hide your emotions. If you need someone to cry to, then I'm here for you. You can do that around me; I'm not going to care." Eren stepped closer to Armin and took one of his hands into his own.

"Okay...?" He asked, his smile returning.

What the hell was Eren doing to him?

* * *

**A/N: I actually had planned to introduce Jean in this chapter, but it kept getting longer and longer, so I didn't. I'll save that for later. ^^' Warning! The next chapter will be super short. e.e It doesn't even bridge 2,000 words.**


	3. Chapter 25

**A/N: See? Short chapter. Not even 2,000 words. Also it really is an intermission. XD Song of the day?**

**Queen B'Z: Bad**

**Alright! Have a great New Year! :D The next chapter will be much longer, promise!**

* * *

**Chapter 2.5:**

**Intermission**

* * *

"And so ends the twenty four hour mark for the Hunger games. The fourteen tributes surviving have been in the forest now for a whole day. Tell me, Keith, what do you think so far of the games?"

The games announcer, Dot Pixis, was an old man, but his voice still boomed with a lively effervescence that brought the show to life. He had been conducting the shows now for the most of twenty three years, this being the twenty third. He wasn't a naturally easy man to talk to, and whenever cameras weren't on him he was drinking, but he had a way about him that made one feel like they could do anything, even lift a boulder if the opportunity was needed. He had interviewed all of the tributes beforehand, and now he was hosting the show. He told everyone what was happening, the latest news for those recently tuning in, which tributes were still alive, and which tributes had fallen.

Sitting next to him was Keith Shadis. Keith was the game maker, controlling everything that happened around the tributes. While one could talk to Pixis, Keith was another story entirely. He was the absolute essence of evil, but he had a heart. It wasn't that he was evil, but could he play the part? Hell yes, he could.

Keith had a loud, booming voice, similar to Pixis, however, his was filled with rage and anger eighty two percent of the time. He yelled, screamed, barked orders, and practically tortured the tributes in training. He wasn't one to mess with, especially on his bad days. He made sure everyone knew what they were doing in the arena, to make the games more interesting, and if one didn't learn fast, they'd suffer fast.

"I think we have a good batch of tributes this year, Pixis." Of course Shadis wouldn't say rude remarks or swear on television, but on the inside, he was exploding with terrible criticism.

"So what do you think about the sheer number? Normally you have about twelve, thirteen, to nineteen dead within the first hour of the games. Twenty four hours have gone by and only ten are dead." Pixis remarked. As he did, faces of the ones dead flashed behind him. People like Mina and Mylius were among them, their numbers of their district below them instead of their names.

"I think the number only proves that the contestants are fired up and really taking the games serious." Keith said, a hand brushing against the table and bringing up footage from hours before. "Take Ymir for example. The girl had life threatening injuries and kept tugging Christa Renz along with her." He replayed the footage from earlier, showing the examples he was referring to.

"And there she is now," Pixis said while looking at the footage. "I'm terribly curious, but what do you think of their pair up? I mean, Christa never asked anything of Ymir, but the girl from District Three fell to her knees for her."

"I know what you mean, but I honestly don't know what is going on between them either." Keith said with a sigh.

"Yes, and normally you see the careers going after the weaker or younger ones. Christa is a career, but she's not a normal one, and even more, she's avoiding the others and teaming up with Ymir."

"Yes, the alliances this year are very unusual." The angry looking man commented.

"Indeed they are. It's expected that Annie, Bertholdt, the team from District Two, and Reiner from District one to make an alliance, considering that they are all careers; I saw that one coming, but I didn't see Christa not joining them." Pixis said. The footage behind them changed once more, showing the three they had been talking about. The three of them were currently in a mountainous region, gathered around a warm fire while looking out over a cliff. No surprise here, all if them were quiet, making them the least interesting thing there. It also wasn't a surprise that the focus wasn't on them.

"Do you think it's because Ymir yanked her away too fast?" Keith asked.

"Could be," The old man muttered. "Honestly though, Christa is not an average career. She got an eight in training, so unlike the usual career. What do you think?" Images of Christa appeared behind them, showing off her overflowing, goddess-like qualities.

"I think for physical combat, she's weaker than average, but in the medical field you won't find anyone better. She's brilliant and would be an easy top surgeon if she chose that field." Keith commented.

"That good, huh…?"

"Good is an understatement. I think it's already been proven that she knew about how to treat a severed jugular, but because she didn't have the proper equipment, she couldn't save Mina from District Twelve."

"Yes, and what a terrible sight that was. Poor Mina never saw it coming, and the boy from her district, Armin, did not take that well. That's another thing that's odd. What do you think about the development of a relationship between Armin Arlert and the boy from District Four, Eren Jaeger?" Pixis asked.

Images of the two showed behind them. Footage of them and what happened between them showed, replaying how Armin practically crumbled within Eren's embrace, how Eren hurt him, yelled at him, and then soothed him by whispering sweet nothings into his ears. They replayed how Eren was calm and gentle with him as he wiped away Mina's blood, how he helped Armin onto his feet and assured him that everything would be alright in the end. The two were truly and odd pair, acting like they had been friends since birth, when in reality they had only known each other for a few hours. Since them and their alliance were the most interesting thing at the moment, that's what was on camera the most. They quickly grew popular, and that prompted Keith to make sure it stayed that way.

"I don't know about those two. I remember seeing Eren trying to talk to Armin during training, but the boy didn't reciprocate the conversation."

"So this would be the first time they ever put effort into talking with each other?" Pixis asked.

"First time talking to each other, working with each other, and so on."

"Eren's sister doesn't seem to care too much either." The older man mentioned.

"I think she just trusts her brother in hopes that it'll work out." Keith explained.

"Yes, but I think we've seen how Eren's choices work out. Mina's dead, because they waited too long. They also have a sharp range shooter with them. So far his decisions are leading them bad places."

Footage of Ymir once again followed their conversation. Her injuries were extensive, to which Eren tried to treat, but obviously couldn't, because Ymir wanted to kill him. Christa took his place after that, leading them some peace and down time after the chaos that ensued.

"You can see the reasoning behind his ideas, right? While his plans are dangerous, so far they're the biggest alliance, not to mention that they have Ymir, Mikasa, and Eren, who all have incredible aim and precision. We've seen Ymir's abilities put to the test when she killed Mylius."

"I can see them already starting to work as a team instead of a group that could kill each other at any moment." Pixis agreed when going over the footage from before.

"Exactly. With that they have water and medicine. If they kept this up, they'd easily make it to the end."

"Until it was time to kill each other." Dot finished for him. "So you think they're a match for the careers with the way they are now?"

"That's a difficult question. I think it all depends on the moment. Plans can always be made, but something could easily happen. They could always be strong, but the others are quicker to the punch line. It all depends on how the situation is handled and how they manage through that."

"You make good points, Keith." Pixis leaned forward onto the table, pointed elbows bent off of it to not set off the finger print screen. "While they have more chances in numbers, one slip up could mess it up for them."

"Exactly," Keith took back to leaning in his chair, arms going to hold his head up in his position.

"Speaking of messing things up, it looks like something is happening to that three man team we've been watching for the past hour." Pixis mentioned. The video feed showed said team currently lurking through the dense forest area, eyes and ears open, but they were unaware of the real situation mere feet from them. "Sasha was raised in the mountains, so she knows about a forest area, but do you think she'll notice the land mines?" The old man asked.

"It's possible, so long as she keeps close attention. Right now, their main focus isn't land mines, but other tributes. She could easily pass over it."

"What about Marco or Connie? Do you think they'll notice?"

"I don't doubt that Connie will run into one. Marco I'm not sure of. I guess time will tell." Dot said.

"Time indeed will tell." Pixis finally relaxed in his chair, his hands falling against the cold, glass table while he leaned back into his chair like Shadis. "We'll just have to wait and see after this commercial break."

* * *

**A/N: Don't forget to review! :D**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sad shit ahead. I regret nothing...**

**No, I lied. I regret it.**

* * *

**Chap. 3****  
****Beg For Your Life**

* * *

Eren and Armin's heads turned to the sound of a loud pop, very loud. They could faintly see dust scattering in the air, followed by birds flying out of the area the sound came from, but it was too far away to know what happened exactly.

"What was that?" Armin asked, arms crossing over his chest to shelter himself from the mysterious happenings.

"I have no idea..." Eren muttered, backing up slightly and inching an arm over the younger boy behind him. Armin's lips turned up in a small smile, happy by the idea of Eren protecting him of something dangerous, and finding it even more adorable that he'd do something so unlike himself. A person like Eren, abrasive, obnoxious, loud, a fiery temper, and a lack of an attention span, wouldn't normally do something so caring, but then again, that was probably what made him act that way. Obviously Armin didn't know everything about Eren, but he wanted to learn.

That didn't mean he didn't want to learn.

"Should uh... Should we go check it out?" Armin asked, his voice faltering on slight embarrassment.

"No, let's leave it be. No canons have gone off, so obviously no one is dead. It would be like walking into a trap." Eren explained and turned around on the branch to face Armin. "Unless you want to end up dead," He remarked with a cheeky smile.

"Yeah, sure, and you can fly away on some pretty wings." Armin came back with, his smile making his cheeks ache. Eren laughed at the boy and ruffled his hair, and he definitely didn't miss the blush dusting Armin's cheeks.

"Eren...!" The two teens looked out into the empty forest, seeing Mikasa returning with Ymir and Christa at her heels. She was panting heavily, frantic, and her voice was heavy with fear and anxiety. "Eren!" She called out.

"I'm up here!" Eren started climbing down the branches to meet his sister, Armin following close behind. Once down, once Eren's feet hit the forest floor, Mikasa ran into him with the full force of hurricane winds. She wrapped her arms around her adopted brother and pulled him into her body, his face in the crook of her neck and their chests pressed tight together, even to the point where Mikasa, still out of breath from running, couldn't breathe.

"What's going on?" Armin asked.

"We heard that explosion! We thought it was here!" Christa exclaimed, just as much out of breath as Mikasa.

"I-I was so worried that something happened to you while we were gone! I thought someone got to you or maybe Armin turned against us!" She cried into his neck. Eren kept pulling at her jacket, trying to free himself from her death grip so he could breathes (let alone speak), but Mikasa seemed blind to his antics.

"Ackerman, you're choking your brother to death." Ymir uttered, slightly tittering from the running. Mikasa finally released Eren, and she was met with the sound of him gasping for air like his life depended on it. The sight was funny enough to make the other teens chuckled lightly.

"W-We're alright!" Eren gasped out before taking deep, heavy breaths to relax.

"Sorry..." Mikasa mumbled dejectedly, her head falling low.

"It's alright," Eren assured with a small smile and a pat to her shoulder.

"So what do you think that was anyway?" Ymir spoke up and asked, her hand falling to her angled hip.

"Not a clue." Armin said.

"The game makers add more than just forest settings. Maybe someone set off a trap?" Christ suggested.

"That's probably what happened." Eren muttered.

"Don't you think we would have heard a cannon go off by now?" Mikasa asked.

"Not unless the person didn't die." Eren replied.

"Ouch, that's sucks massive ass." Ymir uttered. Christa frowned at her harsh language and elbowed her side, but Ymir didn't take the gesture seriously and wrapped an arm around the small girl's shoulders. "Hey, speaking of people sucking ass, guess who we saw staggering for life by the river?" The tall girl asked.

"I don't know, who?" Eren asked, just as sarcastic as before.

"Jean Kirschtein, The guy from my district." She said. "He looked like a kicked puppy." She then chuckled.

"Good, serves him right." Eren grumbled to himself.

"He's in really bad shape, Eren." His sister spoke up.

"Yeah, so?" He asked. Mikasa tilted her head a little to the side, a sigh leaving her as she stared into his eyes. It didn't take very long for Eren to understand what she was implying, and when he got it, he was immediately on the offensive. "No, no, no! Hell no!"

"He's needs help," Christa mumbled over him.

"He could be eaten by a pack of wild dogs and I wouldn't care! I'm not helping that asshole!" Eren continued to rant.

"Eren," Armin said over his yelling. "We could use this to our advantage." He proclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Eren asked.

"He needs help, Eren." His sister said, a hand falling onto his shoulder. "If we help him, he'll be in debt to us. He'll owe us his life. He'll need to pay us back for it, and we can use that to our advantage. We can make him protect us."

"By force…?" Eren asked. No matter how many times that idea stuck in his head for Ymir and Christa, the idea never struck him once for Jean.

"No, we'll throw a little tea party." Ymir retorted, which was punished by another blow to the side from Christa's elbow. Mikasa looked back at her with a berating glare before looking back to her brother.

"If we save him, he won't have a choice but to follow us around, and when the time comes, if it ever comes, we'll kill him. It's as simple as that." Mikasa said and released her brother from we sturdy grip. Eren's eyes wandered around to the four teens standing by him. He looked back at Armin, wondering how the boy felt about the plan, and Armin seemed into this idea just like the others. Eren felt defeated, and with a heavy sigh, Eren took the bow away from Mikasa and wrapped it around his body.

"I get to kill him." He muttered.

"Fine then," She replied with a small smile.

"Well there went my fun." Ymir grumbled dejectedly. Eren smirked at her before gathering the arrows from his sister and putting them on his back, along with the bow. He looked back to Armin, who, at some point, grabbed his own pack from the tree. He must have done it just before they had climbed out, leaving the five teens ready to leave.

"Alright, lead the way." Eren commanded. The three girls began the long trek to their destination, Eren and Armin following closely behind while Eren made small, quiet jokes about everything and anything. One of the jokes had been about Mikasa who had a problem wetting the bed at fifteen. To his unpleasant misfortune, his sister heard it all, and before he could even defend himself, Mikasa swiftly turned around and stomped on his foot.

Eren yelped and cursed, holding his boot-covered foot in his hand and simultaneously jumping up and down at once, but Armin's childish giggles and laughter brought him out of his pain long enough to give him a playful shove. Their antics didn't go unnoticed for long, however.

"Hey, you do remember that we're trying to stay alive. People could be anywhere and you're playing like children." Ymir hissed at them. She would have scolded Christa for laughing at their idiocy too, but when the girl giggled or laughed, she seemed to glow even more than before. She couldn't possibly lose the sight of that.

"But we are kids," Armin argued.

"We all have our childhood to look forward to, you old biddy." Eren said with a slight skip in his step and an airy tone. Ymir turned around and flipped him off, a growl escaping her tightly closed lips, but Eren brushed it off like it was nothing.

The trip after that stayed relatively quiet. Eren and Armin continued their quiet banter, this time without the personal jokes. It wasn't until they entered a clearing for the river that they spoke up. At first it was simple sounds to show their awe of the beautiful area (despite the morbid feel it had), but then it turned into questions.

"Where is Jean?" Was Eren's question, already eager to know if he'd get to kill him.

"Is there anyone around?" Was Armin's.

"Can we be seen easily from here?" Christa asked and ducked behind Ymir's back for protection. Ymir obviously had no objections.

"Is any of this water fresh water?" Was Armin's second question. Uncaring for his own safety, Armin jumped out from behind the brush to scurry to the river. Eren followed close behind to make sure no one would harm him, bow and arrow in hand, and in return, Mikasa then followed him for the same reasons. Armin stopped by the water's edge, eyes glistening from the reflection as they followed along the shoreline. He looked back and forth a few times, simply questioning the cleanliness of the water before bending down to test it. The water was cold when his fingertips fell in it, but before he could cup the water up into his hands and drink it, a glimmer of something caught his eye.

Armin looked down the shoreline once more, except this time his eyes followed farther down. He followed the little river rocks that were smooth upon touch to the mud licking around them. His eyes fell on the rocks and mud cluttered together under an unmoving body, a gasp escaping him as he stood up.

"Jean!" He exclaimed and ran over to the teenager's body. The others followed, and when arriving, Christa fell to her knees in front of Jean's unmoving form and pressed her fingers to his throat.

"He still has a pulse." She murmured under her breath before forcing an eye of his open. She could hear the quiet, raspy breath leaving his dry and barely parted lips, and just barely she could see the remains of drool slipping down his cheek and jaw. "Armin, check the water. Is it fresh or salt water?" She commanded, her voice high with adrenaline.

Armin finally cupped some water into his hands and drank it. It wasn't long before he spit it back out and wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand.

"It's salt water..."

"I don't get it. What does that have to do with anything?" Eren asked.

"If Jean drank this, he'll be two hundred times more dehydrated then one would be without any water in their systems." Christa explained while reaching for the flask Armin was already holding out for her. She pulled the boy's head into her lap and tilted it for him before holding the flask to his lips. "The salt will also mess with his blood and reroute everything. It will really mess with his system." She said while feeding the water into Jean's dry mouth.

"Could it kill him?" Mikasa spoke up and asked.

"Depends on how much he drank. If he drank a lot, there's no helping him." She answered, her voice dropping. Jean was still unresponsive, the water either slipping down his throat or dribbling past his lips to sink down his chin and neck. "All of this could be in vain..." Christa's voice fell lower to a mumble.

"If he's as good as dead, you might as well stop." Ymir scoffed, her hand falling languidly to her hip. Christa looked up at her with a frown before looking back down to Jean.

Maybe Ymir was right. If Jean was as good as dead, then they were just wasting fresh, clean water. They needed the resources, and it could have been a waste. It seemed so by his still flaccid corpse.

"We were too late..." Christa's voice rose and cracked at the end of her sentence, as if asking the statement more than saying it. She was about ready to pull the water back into the flask when she noticed something. It was subtle at first, but it was there. Jean's body twitched lightly, his lips curving to fit the flow of the water. Just as she tilted her head to one side as a means of getting the hair out of her face, Jean's eyes shot open, along with his hands that clasped around the container and the blond girl's hands.

She yipped a small sound in surprise, but it was obvious what he was really after. She pulled her hands from his tight grasp and sat back, letting Jean sit up onto his elbows to swallow the water properly. Jean practically inhaled the water from the flask, drinking it all until there was nothing left. Afterwards, he dropped the empty flask and gasped for air, utterly lacking in that and energy.

By this point, the others had fallen into fighting stances, besides Armin, who had no weapon to fight with. He was reduced to jumping back slightly and hiding behind Eren and Mikasa. Christa had jumped to her feet and stood behind Ymir, her arms lacing around Ymir's in a protected hold. Ymir herself was pushing the girl back more, wanting to keep her safe, and Eren had done the same thing with Armin, but the boy kept standing on his toes to look over Eren's shoulder and see what was happening. Mikasa had her fists up and ready to fight, instinctively stepping in front of Eren. This way, Eren and Armin were safe from danger.

"Shit..." The word was uttered under Jean's breath, barely a whisper, but it was there. He wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand in hopes of sparing more water, but it was no use. It was practically dried like his drool and sweat, leaving him still thirsty for more. The whole relenting urge for thirst made him remember that something had woken him up.

Some goddess like face was above him, granting him access to water and life. Had it been God? Had he or she given him another chance?

A clearing of someone's throat made him realize that this hypothesis was incorrect. He hesitated to look up, five pairs of legs already being in his line of view. His eyes shifted, traveling up higher until he met the faces of the ones who saved him. There was Christa, who was being protected by Ymir. There was Mikasa who was the closest to him, practically guarding Eren, and in turn was guarding Armin. Armin was separated between Jean and two other bodies, making him the safest, but that didn't mean that particularly.

While Jean had gotten a nine for his leadership, this didn't mean that he didn't have a good aim. His hands searched, grabbing at the closest thing that could be any sort of weapon in his defense. The closest thing was a river rock with a jagged edge, and Jean grabbed at it. Even with the distance between them, the rock managed to slip past the two siblings and hit Armin right in the forehead, the jagged edge creating a rather deep gash in his skin.

It was like a bomb had been set off. With a snarl, Eren pushed past Mikasa and lifted Jean off of the ground by his jacket. The two began throwing profanities back and forth, barking threats at each other while Mikasa began trying to pry Eren off of the older teen. Ymir had her throwing knife pulled out and ready at a moment's notice, waiting for just the right moment for when it was time to pay back her debt to the three teens and their help, and Christa had gone to attend to Armin's open wound.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

_"Back off, Four!_ I don't have time to deal with you!"

"We saved your ass and you just go and attack Armin! He and Christa just saved your god damn life!"

"Eren, that's enough!" Mikasa yelled over the two, her arms slipping around Eren's waist to pull back, but Eren's grip was firm around Jean's jacket and shirt collar.

"Fuck you! I don't owe you shit!"

"I should have just let you die!"

"Threaten me one more time, god damn it! I dare you!"

"You really want me to? I'll do more than threaten you!"

"Eren, stop!" Armin cried over their yelling. Eren's grip immediately loosened, the anger in him dissipating faster than he thought it would. Armin's voice was pleading, begging, and Eren couldn't possibly go against it. With a few moments of glaring, Eren clicked his tongue and shoved Jean away. Jean stumbled back, nearly falling into the water that almost killed him, but he caught his balance in time.

Eren stomped his way back to Armin's side, the anger on his face disappearing when he saw the blood drenching his face and staining his skin. He cupped his hands around Armin's cheeks, making those blue eyes look up with slight surprise. Armin was sure that he would be blushing if it wasn't for the profuse amount of bleeding he was doing.

"Are you okay?" Eren asked quietly, hands cutting away the blood paths falling down his cheeks.

"I'm okay..." Armin answered, a shiver going up his spine at the close contact.

"It's a deep wound, but it's small in width and length. It's a head injury, that's why it's bleeding so badly. He's okay." Christa assured with her goddess-like grin. Eren smiled, the relief obvious on his face as he slowly drew back.

"Good..." Eren said with a sigh.

"Good," Mikasa agreed.

"Good, now what are we going to do with him?" Ymir asked with a tense voice, but she had a long smirk on her face while she ran her blade between her fingers. The rest of the teens glared at Jean, and seeing and feeling the tension directed towards him, Jean tried backing away. However, with the river directly behind him, Jean was trapped.

"Let me kill him." Eren hissed.

"Can't I have my fun first?" Ymir teased, her grin getting bigger as her and Eren stepped closer to Jean.

"Stop it, you two." Christa commanded. Ymir listened on a dime, stopping and turning on her heels to give the smaller girl a pleading look, but Eren kept his glare directed at Jean.

"Eren," Mikasa said, her voice stern. Eren didn't look away, and he kept his close contact. He wanted to throttle Jean, and if the "horse face," as Eren called him, tried anything, Eren would do just that. "Jean, despite the rough start we had already, it's blatantly obvious that we saved your life." Mikasa stated flatly.

"I don't care." Jean growled.

"Alright then," Mikasa sighed quietly before looking to her brother. "Go ahead, Eren, kill him." With those words, Eren smirked a devilish grin and yanked at the bow around his shoulders and chest. Before he could even click his arrow into place, Jean was already backing up into the water, boots becoming soaked as he tossed his hands in front of his face.

"Whoa, wait, wait!" He cried out.

"Stop, Eren." Mikasa said. Eren audibly scoffed and rolled his eyes, irritation thick in his attitude. "You owe us. Either do what we say or die. Take your pick." Mikasa suggested.

"You can't be serious..." Jean groaned quietly, more to himself than the others. He looked away for a moment, weighing the options in his head. Of course he didn't want to die, so he was trying to figure if there was a way to get out of this alive. Ymir let out a teasing hum, grabbing Jean's attention for a brief moment. He watched her run her fingers over the sharp blade of her knife, and even that was a reminder for him.

Of course. Even if he were to slip away, both Ymir and Eren had deadly aims, better than his would ever be. Not to mention, they both had long distance weapons. He had nothing, unless he wanted to make a dive for that rock he tossed, which was an obvious no.

He was trapped.

"Well, Jean, what do you say?" Mikasa asked. Jean ground his teeth together in irritation and defeat. There was no way he could get out of this alive without agreeing with them, none.

"I-I don't want to die." He didn't stutter, of course not, and his breath sure didn't hitch when he felt Eren step around him.

"We'll take that as a yes." He said, his hands pulling the bow off of his shoulders and then yanking an arrow from his satchel. Within a mere second, he clicked the arrow into place and cocked it back. "Mikasa, duck." He commanded.

Mikasa did as told, grabbing Armin by his shoulder and pulling his down to the ground as Eren released the arrow. It shot over their heads and into the brush, and within another second, a high pitched screech came following the impact.

"A-Are we surrounded?" Christa asked. Eren made a mad dash in the direction his arrow went, already replacing it with another one in preparation for a battle. Mikasa followed close behind, followed by Armin, and then Ymir, who had drawn her knife. Jean had quickly jumped into his roll to protect, and pulled Christa behind him as they made their way over to the others.

"No, stop!" A voice cried out. Mikasa yanked back the branches of the lush bush to see two other teens behind it, the two from District Five: Sasha Blouse and Connie Springer. The screech had come from Sasha, whose hair was caught between the arrow and imbedded into the tree. Tears had streamed down her face, and in an act of bravery, Connie stepped in front of her and held out his arms. It was him who begged for them to stop.

Eren took the time to look over the two. Besides some small cuts and bruises, the two of them were relatively healthy. Sasha looked a little famished, but the girl was constantly eating, a possible binge eater, so it wasn't much of a surprise to him. However, the two of them were filthy. It looked as if the two of them had jumped into a pile of mud and dry dirt. Sasha's hair, minus the arrow pinning her to the tree, was clumped with dirt, and a few leaves stuck out of her brown locks. Connie's clothes were caked with mud, and while he didn't have hair, a shaved head as compensation, it was still covered in dirt.

The two of them looked terrible.

"What do you want?" Ymir asked.

"P-Please, we don't want to fight!" Connie cried out. Sasha began yanking on the arrow in her hair, but it didn't seem to want to budge. She was practically hysterical, and if it wasn't for Connie suddenly grabbing at her flailing arms, she might have just lost it then.

"Then what do you want?" Armin asked.

"W-We saw Three, a-and we saw her bandages!" Sasha cried, and Connie cradled her head against his chest.

"You have medicine, right? At least some bandages and antibiotics?" Connie asked for her.

"What's it to you?" Ymir hissed out, raising her knife threateningly at them.

"Please, it's not for us, it's for our friend! He's hurt, badly, a-and we don't have anything for him!" Sasha pleaded with them. Eren and Armin exchanged worried glances, eyes saying the same things to each other. That explosion they heard earlier must have had something to do with this.

"Who is it?" Eren asked, lowering his bow for only a moment.

"Marco, from District Nine." Connie said.

"Marco...?" Jean pushed past the others at the mention of Marco's name. "He's hurt?" He asked, and the two nodded. Tears threatened to spill over Connie's eyes, however. It was obvious something more was to it.

"Was he in the explosion?" Christa asked, her voice trembling. The two from District Five looked at each other for a moment before nodding.

"He... Stepped on a land mind..." Sasha mumbled. Blood ran cold in their hearts as Connie continued to say what Sasha couldn't.

"He's missing half of his body..." He finished.

"And he's still alive?" Ymir gaped in surprise. Sasha nodded her head begrudgingly. _"Holy shit..."_

"I want to see him. Where is he?" Jean demanded.

"Hey, wait-" Eren tried to intervene, but Jean wasn't having any of it.

"Fuck you, Jaeger!" He spat.

"Jean, calm down," Mikasa said calmly while setting a hand on the older teen's shoulders. "Panicking isn't going to help Marco..." Jean took the words to heart, but the fear was still obvious. One couldn't tell him not to be afraid, because if what Sasha and Connie said was true, he could die at any second. He didn't have time to remain calm.

"We'll take you to him." Connie said, helping Sasha stand to her feet after removing her hair from the arrow and tree. Without verbally stating it, the large group of teens all seemed to be in agreement. When Connie and Sasha began leading Jean, they all followed close behind, fully aware of their surroundings. Ymir kept her knife in hand and Eren had his arrows ready for a fight.

Thankfully, however, none of it was needed. Though the area seemed shady, Sasha and Connie lifted up some heavy branches leaning on the ground to reveal an opening to an underground cave. Jean wasted no time in thinking or contemplating the possible danger he could be running into; he simply jumped into the small space and disappeared into the darkness. Sasha and Connie followed close behind, and after a few hesitating seconds, the rest did the same.

The area they were in underground was much bigger. It wasn't where someone like Jean could stand up straight, but in width, it held all of them perfectly, and could possibly withstand a few more people, as of now, however, besides them, there was only one other person in the enclosed area.

Marco was trapped in a heavy sleeping bag, the right side of his face hidden behind the hood and his body near a small fire to stay warm, but it didn't seem to make a difference for him. As Jean stepped over to him, he noticed that Marco was still shivering within the sleeping bag. He was practically sweating after their run, and the fire sitting next to him, though low, was making him dizzy with lack of oxygen. If Marco was still shivering in an area that was overheating with warmth, it was obvious what kind of condition he was in.

"Marco...?" Jean called quietly. Marco's eye opened slowly, obviously unfocused, and he could tell that Marco couldn't see anything, but he could hear.

"Jean...?" He croaked out. Jean sat down beside him and placed careful hands down on top of his chest. Jean shuddered, because he could _feel_ the indentation of where Marco's body wasn't.

"Yeah, it's me..." Jean mumbled.

"J-Jean..." Marco's eye winced in pain at the added pressure to his chest, his voice hoarse from his raw throat.

"Don't talk; it's okay," Jean couldn't resist the curiosity, taking a peek beyond the hem of the sleeping bag. He wished he hadn't. Marco's face was practically gone, his muscle and remaining skin sticking to the fabric of the bag and pulling back with the fabric. He couldn't see far into the bag, but he swore he could see the remains of Marco's other eyes.

In all honesty, Jean wondered how the boy was still alive.

"How bad... Does it look?" Marco asked, his breathing heavy, but quick.

"N-Not bad..." Jean muttered, but he was trembling too much. It showed in his voice just as much as it did in his body. Marco managed a contorted smile, part of his missing face showing, but it disappeared when he coughed. Blood spilled back his tattered and blue lips, and Jean shuddered again.

"Jea... Jean..." Marco kept calling out, but not without some issues.

"It's okay, I'm right here for you." Jean murmured and gently touched below Marco's eye. His cheek was unbelievably cold, so much that the real fear was setting in for Jean.

This was really happening.

"Jean, please..." How could he even speak when part of his mouth was missing? How could he be breathing? How was he _alive?_

"What, what's wrong?" Jean asked. He wanted to lift Marco's head into his lap, to pat his head and just murmur sweet sayings into his ear, but he couldn't. He didn't know what was broken and what _else was_ missing. Doing it would only cause the boy more pain, and he couldn't do that to him.

"Can I... Ask a favor of you...?" Marco managed to say. Jean kept brushing his fingers under Marco's eyes, hoping for that once vivid hope in his eyes to show and for him to look at him, but he couldn't do it.

"What? Whatever it is, I'll do it." Jean promised, hand pressing more feverishly into his cheek. He wasn't even sure if Marco could feel it, if he could feel anything, but he needed to do something to keep _himself_ grounded.

"I... Could you... K-Kiss me...?" He asked, voice cracking under pressure and blood dripping past his chin and onto what was left of his neck. Jean sat back a little, taken aback by the question.

"... What?" He asked.

"I haven't... Ha-had my first kiss yet... I know I'm gonna d-die... I'd like to die with at least that..." A tear slipped out of Marco's blind eye, slipping down onto Jean's hand. Seeing that tear set something off in Jean, a pang of guilt and utter penitence welling up in his heart, because he knew that all Marco said was true.

He was going to die.

"I know I'm... Not what you want... And I know I'm... Like this..." He couldn't possibly say how disfigured he was. "But I... Haven't..."

Another tear slipped out of Marco's eye, and Jean was done sitting by uselessly. He didn't wait for Marco to finish his stuttering, simply bending down and pushing back the hood of the sleeping bag. He didn't care if Marco was disfigured now. Marco was Marco, and that was all he needed to know.

He bent down close, making sure Marco was aware of what he was doing before pressing his lips against his mouth, his full mouth, or at least, what was left. He didn't care what was there, so long as he could give Marco what he wanted.

The boy stilled underneath him, and for a moment it fell quiet.

That was until the sound of a cannon went off.

Jean pulled back, blood dripping off of his lips as he gazed upon the boy's face. Marco's eye had closed, and with that, his breathing had stopped.

Marco was dead.

He could hear distant things. He could hear Sasha break out into a hysterical fit of crying, and Connie consoling her. He could hear Christa trying not to cry, and Ymir pulling the sullen girl into her chest for her to cry without eyes on her. He heard Armin fall to his knees and cry, and then Eren fall next to him to hold him. He heard footsteps, and then felt Mikasa's hand fall gently against his shoulder. He looked out of the corner of his eyes, seeing her kneeling beside him and Marco's unmoving corpse. She had tears lining her eyes, but a smile on her lips.

"You made him happy..." She said quietly, her hand rubbing gentle circles on his shoulder. He nodded his head, his eyes falling back on Marco. "I think he's smiling..." She stated quietly.

Jean had to tilt his head a little, but it did seem that way. Could Marco have really died with a smile on his face, or was it just the illusion from his torn skin?

"Hey..." Eren's voice sounded by them. He kneeled down beside them, a hand falling on Jean's other shoulder to comfort him. "I'm sorry, but... We should probably move his body... The capital ships will be here to get it soon." Eren stated, though he hated the idea of it just as much as any of them.

"No," Jean's voice cracked, trying to hold back his pain, but it was obvious to everyone. Why he tried to hide it, no one knew. "No..."

"Why...?" Mikasa asked. Jean swallowed rather noisily before pulling on the drawstrings of the sleeping bag and covering Marco's face.

"I don't want the capital to have him... Our bodies don't go back to our families anyway, and I..." Jean trailed off, his hand patting over Marco's un-beating heart.

"I understand..." Mikasa said.

"But... What are you going to do to stop them?" Eren asked. Jean's eyes followed along the contours of the sleeping bag, hoping for a miracle, but to no prevail. He had only one idea to keep the capital away from him, but it wasn't to say that it was a good one.

What it was could potentially blow their cover.


End file.
